The Diplomatic Support Center Building Was Attacked A Rocket, Two Drones Were Shot Down Near The US Military Base

The impact of missile strikes on Al-Asad Airbase in 2020. (Wikimedia Commons/Spc. Derek Mustard)

JAKARTA - Two unmanned aircraft (drones) that passed with the United States (US) military base were shot down, after previously diplomatic support facilities in Iraq were attacked by rockets.

This is not the first time a military base, also occupied by US-led international forces in Iraq, has been threatened. Previously, this base had come under direct attack.

"The air defense system at Al-Asad Air Base, one of the largest and oldest military bases in Iraq, intercepted and shot down the drone", the Iraqi military said in a statement cited from Al Arabiya, Monday, June 7.

The incident occurred hours after the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC) in the Iraqi capital Baghdad was struck by a rocket. The facility is under the management of the Management Section of the US Embassy in Iraq.

"The rocket struck near the BDSC and caused no injury or damage. The attack is under investigation", Colonel Wayne Marotto, spokesman for the US-led Coalition Colonel Wayne Marotto, cited from CNN.

In another tweet, Marotto said any attack on the Iraqi government, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, and the coalition, undermines the authority of Iraqi institutions, the rule of law, and Iraqi national sovereignty.

It is not clear who launched the drone over the base or who was behind the rocket attack on the BDSC.

Last year, the Al-Asad airbase was attacked with missiles by Iran in response to an attack near Baghdad airport that killed Iran's most powerful military commander, Qasem Soleimani.

Meanwhile, Anbar Province, where the base is located, was a hotbed of ISIS activity in western Iraq between 2014 and 2017.

It is known that the administration of President Joe Biden decided to withdraw US troops from Iraq, in line with the development of better Iraqi security forces and the threat of ISIS reduced.

The US has about 2.500 troops in Iraq as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the global coalition to defeat the remnants of the ISIS caliphate that previously controlled parts of Iraq and Syria.

"Forces have now shifted to training and advisory duties, making it possible for the withdrawal of the remaining troops from Iraq", said a joint US-Iraq statement last April.