Rockets fired from northern Iraq hit US-led coalition base in Syria

(Patria) - Late last night, rockets were fired from northern Iraq at a military base in Syria housing the US-led coalition, according to Iraqi security forces.

In response, Iraqi forces launched a major search operation in the northern province of Nineveh and found the vehicle used in the attack, a statement said.

This is the first major attack on coalition forces in several weeks, AFP reports.

The attack comes days after Israel reportedly responded to an Iranian attack by striking the Islamic Republic, amid tensions over the war in Gaza.

In a statement, Iraqi security forces accused "rogue elements of targeting the international coalition base with rockets in the heart of Syrian territory," around 9:50 p.m. Security forces burned the vehicle involved in the attack, the statement added.

Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said several rockets were fired "from Iraqi territory at the Kharab al-Jir base" in northeastern Syria, where US forces are stationed. He blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups, for the attack.

The group claimed responsibility for most attacks on US forces from mid-October to early February. After a series of rocket and drone strikes on US troops deployed in the Middle East during the winter, there were several weeks of calm.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it was acting in solidarity with Palestinians and out of anger over US support for Israel in the war in Gaza.

A drone attack on January 28 killed three US soldiers in the Jordanian desert on the border with Syria. In response, the US military struck dozens of targets in Syria and Iraq, targeting Iran-backed forces, drawing criticism from the governments of both countries.

The US has about 2,500 troops stationed in Iraq and nearly 900 across the border in Syria as part of an international coalition created in 2014 to fight the Islamic State (IS) group.

Early Saturday, an explosion at an Iraqi military base killed one person and wounded eight others.

Security forces said the explosion hit the Kalsu military base in Babylon province south of Baghdad, where regular army, police, and members of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces or Hashed al-Shaabi are stationed.

CENTCOM, the US military command in the region, denied involvement in the attack there. The Israeli military declined to comment.