US Official Provides Update on Troops Hit by Rocket Attack in Iraq

Seven U.S. personnel were wounded in a recent rocket attack at an Iraqi base that marked the first strike of its kind in months amid soaring regional tensions, a U.S. defense official told Newsweek.

"Yesterday (5 Aug) at approximately 2 p.m. ET, two rockets impacted Al Asad Airbase in Iraq," the official, speaking on background, said. "Five U.S. Servicemembers and two U.S. contractors were injured in the attack."

"Five injured personnel are receiving care at Al Asad Airbase and two have been evacuated for further care," the official said. "All seven injured personnel are in stable condition. Post-strike assessments are still ongoing. We'll continue to provide updates as they become available."

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came amid vows for retaliation from Iraqi militias over U.S. airstrikes conducted less than a week earlier that the Pentagon claimed was launched in self-defense amid indications of an imminent drone attack.

The Iraqi Armed Forces and its affiliated paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which includes a number of Islamic Resistance in Iraq factions that have staged attacks against U.S. troops in previous months, alleged that the strikes constituted an illegal aggression and a violation of the terms in which the U.S. military maintains a presence in the country.

The strikes also prompted calls for the immediate expulsion of U.S. forces from the country from the PMF and various militia factions, including the Nujaba Movement, calls that were amplified by outrage over the killing of Hamas Political Bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in the Iranian capital of Tehran around the same time the strikes were conducted.

Haniyeh's death has been widely blamed on Israel, which has declined requests to confirm or deny its involvement in the assassination. The top Hamas official's slaying came less than a day after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed the killing of the top military official of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement in Beirut.

Iran and its allies across the informal coalition known as the Axis of Resistance, which includes Hezbollah, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Yemen's Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthi movement, have vowed to strike back at Israel over the recent events.

Newsweek has reached out to Iraqi government, the PMF and the Nujaba Movement for comment.

This is a developing news story. More information will be added as it becomes available.

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