U.S. military officials say American troops were informed of an imminent attack hours before a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles struck a key Iraqi airbase hosting their forces.
Published Monday, January 13, 2020 7:30AM ESTU.S. soldiers clear rubble from a site of Iranian bombing at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar, Iraq, Monday, Jan. 13, 2020. AIN AL-ASAD BASE, IRAQ -- American troops were informed of an imminent attack hours before a barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles struck a key Iraqi airbase hosting their forces, U.S. military officials said on Monday, days after the attack which marked a major escalation between the longtime foes.
"The reason why we pushed it at 2330 is because at that point in time all indications pointed to something coming," she told reporters at the base. An Associated Press crew touring the Ain al-Asad base Monday saw large craters in the ground and damaged military trailers as well as forklifts lifting rubble and loading it onto trucks from a large area the size of a football stadium. U.S. soldiers inspected portable housing units destroyed and burned by the missile attack.
The Ain al-Asad air base was first used by American forces after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and later saw American troops stationed there amid the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.
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