US military denies striking rocket launcher on Monday in western Iraq

Reuters
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FILE PHOTO: Military vehicles of U.S. soldiers are seen at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province

(Reuters) - The U.S. military said it did not carry out an air strike on a rocket launcher on Monday near Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq which hosts U.S. and other international forces, a U.S. military official said on Thursday.

"The vehicle mounted rocket launcher, which was reportedly found approximately 7km east of Al-Asad Airbase, Iraq, was not destroyed as a result of a U.S. air strike", the U.S. military official told Reuters.

Two Iraqi army officials told Reuters on Tuesday that a U.S. air strike on a rocket launcher late on Monday foiled an attack on Ain al-Asad air base.

The U.S. military official said "any damage to the launcher could have been the result of a malfunction or misfire".

Since October 17, the U.S. and Coalition forces have been attacked at least 130 times in Iraq and Syria, the U.S. military official said.

As of Thursday, there had been 53 attacks in Iraq and 77 in Syria, usually with a mix of one-way attack drones, rockets, mortars, and close-range ballistic missiles, the official added.

Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq and Syria oppose Israel's campaign in Gaza and hold the U.S. partly responsible.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Writing by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)