Trump authorizes military to respond after attack on base housing US troops near Baghdad
US President Donald Trump has authorized the US military to respond to a rocket attack on Wednesday that hit a military base housing American troops near the capital Baghdad.
The attack against Taji military camp killed three members of the US-led coalition, including two Americans and one Briton.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack in which 18 107 mm Katyusha rockets struck the camp.
On Thursday, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, said, “I have spoken with the president. He’s given me the authority to do what we need to do, consistent with his guidance.”
Esper warned that all options were on the table without naming any specific group to be targeted.
“I’m not going to take any option off the table right now, but we are focused on the group - groups - that we believe perpetrated this in Iraq, as the immediate (focus),” he told reporters at the Pentagon.
On Thursday, Iraqi President Barham Salih and caretaker Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi decried the attack.
The Iraqi president, in a statement, described the strikes as an attack on Iraq and its security, stressing the need for thorough investigations to identify the perpetrators.
Anti-American sentiment has been running high in Iraq following the assassination on January 3 of Iran’s top anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) and their companions.
The crime promoted the Iraqi parliament to vote for the expulsion of US forces from the country. The government has not yet acted on the decision as it is grappling with a political deadlock.
Iran and Iraq’s PMU — better known as Hashd al-Sha’abi — vowed revenge, with Tehran targeting two US bases with missiles days later.
The PMU also said the reaction will be “no less than in size” than Tehran’s missile strikes on two American bases in Iraq.
It has, however, denied repeated US claims that it has been behind rocket attacks targeting US and other foreign missions and bases in Iraq.
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