Rockets strike near US base in Iraq

Rockets struck outside Irbil international airport near where US forces are based in northern Iraq late Monday, killing one US-led coalition contractor and wounding more, Iraqi security and coalition officials reported, sparking fears of new hostilities. At least three rockets hit areas between the civilian airport in the Kurdish-run region and the nearby base hosting US troops. One civilian contractor with the coalition was killed and five others wounded, a coalition spokesman, Col. Wayne Marotto, said in a statement posted on social media. One US service member was also injured, he said.

He did not reveal the nationality of the dead contractor and said this was under investigation. Attacks targeting Irbil airport are rare. Monday's attack was the first to strike the area in five months. On Sept. 30, when six rockets hit near the airport. Kurdish authorities said they had been launched from a pickup truck in the nearby town of Bartella in Ninevah province, which falls under federal government control. Rocket attacks have frequently target the US presence in Baghdad, including the US Embassy, as well as convoys ferrying materials for the US-led coalition.