Sources from "Al Arabiya" revealed that the American company Lockheed Martin, responsible for the maintenance of F-16 aircraft at the "Balad" base in Iraq, will be leaving the country due to attacks by armed militias targeting the base. The sources confirmed that 85 personnel, including engineers, technicians, and workers, will exit Iraq.
The "Ain al-Assad" base, which hosts American forces in Anbar, western Iraq, was attacked by drones early Saturday morning. An "Al Arabiya" and "Al Hadath" correspondent reported that the airspace above the military base was closed in anticipation of similar attacks, and added that security forces began to sweep the area in search of the perpetrators of the attacks on the military base.
A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq stated that drones attacked Ain al-Assad airbase, which hosts American and international forces in western Iraq, on Saturday. Colonel Wayne Marotto, the coalition spokesman, posted on Twitter that an investigation is underway, but the initial report indicates that the attack occurred at 2:20 a.m. local time, causing damage to a hangar.
The base had already been attacked in the first week of March with ten rockets, resulting in the death of an American contractor from a heart attack due to the assault. Ain al-Assad airbase hosts most of the remaining 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq.
U.S. officials suggested that the attacks in March were carried out by Iranian-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah or a militia associated with it, which had previously been targeted by three attacks on the same base in a short timeframe. Washington accuses Iran of giving the green light to its proxies in the region to launch attacks on U.S. forces and contractors in Iraq. Moreover, Iran's support for Iraqi militias has not waned following the U.S. strike that targeted Iranian militia positions in neighboring Syria at the end of February.
