Dec 21, 2023

Another rocket fired at U.S. air base in Iraq

Posted Dec 21, 2023 10:00 AM

BAGHDAD  — At approximately 7:30 a.m. (Iraq time) on Wednesday a 122mm rocket was fired at al Assad Air Base in Iraq –the US military's largest in the country. The there were no injuries or damage caused, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve located the point of origin and passed the location to the Iraqi Security Forces who moved to the site to investigate. The ISF seized a flatbed truck modified to launch up to 5 x 122mm rockets that was located at the site.

Meanwhile, at least 46 people were killed and more than 100 wounded  Wednesday after Israel bombarded the urban Jabaliya refugee camp near Gaza City, according to Munir al-Bursh, a senior official in the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

The Israeli military said its troops have located “ a vast tunnel network ” under Gaza City that included command and control positions, meeting rooms and hideout apartments for the most senior leaders of Hamas, including Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh.

There were new signs of progress Wednesday in negotiations to halt the war in Gaza and secure the release of at least some of the estimated 129 Israeli captives held by Palestinian militants. Hamas said that Haniyeh, who is believed to be based in Qatar, was in Cairo on Wednesday to discuss the war, without providing more details.

Nearly 20,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel declared war on Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant deaths. Thousands more lie buried under the rubble of Gaza, the U.N. estimates. Israel says more than 130 of its soldiers have died in its ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing about 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and taking about 240 hostages.