Mortar attack on Iraqi base home to US troops; no casualties

Militants in Iraq fired three mortar shells early
Saturday into an air base just north of Baghdad where American trainers are
present, causing no casualties, the Iraqi military said.
The military statement said the attack on Balad air
base caused small fires in bushes on the base, which were extinguished
immediately.
An Iraqi army general said the attack occurred
shortly after midnight Friday. The senior officer, who spoke on condition of
anonymity in line with regulations, said American trainers are stationed at
Balad air base.
The attack comes amid rising tensions in the Middle
East between the United States and Iran, which ratcheted up on Thursday after
suspected attacks on two oil tankers near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iran
has denied involvement.
Last month, a rocket exploded less than a mile away
from the sprawling U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, also
causing no casualties.
Like neighboring Iran, Iraq is a Shiite-majority
country, and has been trying to maintain a fine line between allies Tehran and
Washington. There have been concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught
in the middle, just as it is on the path to recovery. The country hosts more
than 5,000 U.S. troops, and is home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some
of whom want those U.S. forces to leave.
The current regional crisis is rooted in the U.S.
withdrawal last year from the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world
powers. Washington subsequently re-imposed sanctions on Iran, sending its
economy into freefall and cutting deeply into its oil exports.
American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but
returned in 2014 at the invitation of Iraq to help battle the Islamic State
group after it seized vast areas in the north and west of the country,
including Iraq’s second-largest city, Mosul. A U.S.-led coalition provided
crucial air support as Iraqi forces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly
three-year campaign. Iranian-backed militias fought alongside U.S.-backed Iraqi
troops against IS, gaining outsized influence and power.