The U.S.-led coalition combating ISIS said Tuesday that several rockets landed outside the Iraqi al-Asad airbase, which houses American troops.
No facilities were hit and there were no injuries, Col. Myles B. Caggins III, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, told Military Times in an emailed statement.
Reuters reported, citing an Iraqi military statement, that five rockets landed on the sprawling airbase.
Rocket and indirect fire attacks are a common occurrence in Iraq, and often the hallmark attack of Iranian-backed militias in the region.
Officials with OIR told Military Times in June that they witnessed an increase in indirect fire attacks near U.S. installations and other interests in the region as tensions flared this summer between Tehran and Washington.
No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s rocket attack, but al-Asad is located in Anbar province, Iraq.
Anbar was once the heart of the Sunni insurgency at the height of America’s participation in the Iraq conflict.
The region remains a hotbed of support for ISIS militants who once controlled major cities like Fallujah and Ramadi and other towns and villages that snake across the Euphrates.
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Analysts and national security experts have flagged Iraq as being ripe for a potential ISIS resurgence.
The Islamic extremist group has largely been relegated to remote desert landscapes and mountainous terrain since losing all its urban strongholds.
But recent airstrike data indicates that trouble may be brewing in Iraq, and ISIS may be looking for a comeback in the country currently rocked by violent protests.
The 303 munitions released by coalition aircraft in October and September have all hit targets in Iraq, with the exception of the October raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria, according to data provided by U.S. Air Forces Central Command.
In October, protesters took to the streets demonstrating against the Iraqi government over corruption and lack of opportunities.
Despite having retaken most of ISIS’ territory, the Iraqi government has largely ignored socioeconomic and political issues that are exploited to the benefit of extremist groups like ISIS.
Reuter’s reported that the Iraqi parliament recently voted to approve the resignation Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi following violent protests that have shook the country.
Shawn Snow is the senior reporter for Marine Corps Times and a Marine Corps veteran.
