'Outraged' over attack on Iraqi airbase housing US troops, says Pompeo

Washington D.C. [USA], Jan 13 (ANI): United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday said that he was "outraged" over the recent reports of another rocket attack on military base hosting US troops in the north of Baghdad that wounded four Iraqi soldiers.
"Outraged by reports of another rocket attack on an Iraqi airbase. I pray for speedy recovery of the injured and call on the Government of #Iraq to hold those responsible for this attack on the Iraqi people accountable," Pompeo said in a Twitter.
"These continued violations of Iraq's sovereignty by groups not loyal to the Iraqi government must end," he added.
Rockets slammed into an Iraqi airbase north of Baghdad on Sunday where American troops have been stationed, wounding at least four Iraqi troops. No immediate information about casualties was reported, according to Al Jazeera.
At least six rockets struck the Al Balad base, which hosts American trainers, advisers and a company that provides maintenance services for F-16 aircraft. Some projectiles fell on a restaurant inside the airbase, officials were quoted as saying.
The attack came just days after Iran fired ballistic missiles at two bases in Iraq that housed US forces and caused no casualties.
So far, there has no claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes amid heightened tensions between the United States and Iran over the last two weeks.
Last week Iran launched missile attacks on two Iraqi airbases, Ain al-Asad and Erbil, hosting US troops in retaliation for the killing of top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport.
The limited Iranian strikes appeared to be mainly a show of force and de-escalated tensions that had threatened to turn Iraq into a proxy battlefield. (ANI)