Iraq rocket attack kills three American soldiers

Fifteen US troops killed in June, the highest toll in two years, with latest strike blamed on Iranian-backed militia A rocket attack on a US base near Iraq’s border with Iran has killed three American soldiers, according to an official who blamed the strike on a Shia militia linked to Tehran. The deaths came at the end of the bloodiest month for US troops in Iraq in two years, and with six months before the American military is scheduled to leave after more than eight years of war. Wednesday’s rocket attack struck a US base in southern Iraq that is located a few miles from Iran, the official said, saying the Iranian link was evident from the type of rockets used. American intelligence officials believe the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, is one of the only militias to use weapons known in military jargon as Irams, or improvised rocket-assisted mortars, against US troops. They are made in Iran. Kataib Hezbollah has links to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group and is solely focused on attacking US troops and other American personnel. The US military is preparing to leave Iraq by the end of the year, as required by a 2008 security agreement between Baghdad and Washington. But as both governments consider extending the deadline to have thousands of troops remain in Iraq into 2012 – in part to counter Iran’s influence – at least three major Shia militias have stepped up attacks on soldiers to force the military out. Kataib Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a 6 June rocket attack on a US base in Baghdad that killed five soldiers. Fifteen US troops have died this month in Iraq, all but one in hostilities. It is the highest number of American military deaths in Iraq since June 2009. There have been 4,469 American troops killed in Iraq since the invasion, according to an Associated Press count. Iraq Middle East Iran US military United States US foreign policy guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 30, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.