IMAGE: twitter.com/FarsNews_Agency/
UPDATE: The CENTCOM (United States Central Command) claims that Iran launched 15 missiles. 10 of them hit the US-operated Ayn al-Assad airbase, one struck the area near Erbil city (a US military facility is located there). 4 missiles allegedly failed.
***
Early on January 8, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps launched at least 10 missiles at the US airbase of Ain al-Assad in Anbar province in western Iraq.
“‘Hard revenge’ begins / Army’s heavy missile attacks on US base in [Ayn al-Asad],” the semi-official Fars News Agency wrote in twitter.
The Al Asad airbase houses about 1,500 U.S. and coalition forces.
Update: Iranian TV airs footage showing dozens of ballistic missiles heading towards U.S bases in western #Iraq. pic.twitter.com/eYsqBcTZVz
— News_Executive (@News_Executive) January 8, 2020
#BREAKING: Several fighter jets damaged in Iranian attack on Al-Assad air base in Iraq — Iraqi sources report. pic.twitter.com/6uPLWFFbY0
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 8, 2020
The IRGC has called for a complete withdrawal of US troops from Iraq, asserting that it would not differentiate between the US and Israel or any another country in retaliating against the assassination of the Iranian national hero.
“We warn US allies providing bases for the [American] terrorist army… that any country serving as the origin of bellicose and aggressive attacks in any form against the Islamic Republic of Iran will be targeted,” the IRGC statement said.
Getting reports of a new wave of IRBM launches from Iran, targets unknown.
— DEFCONWarningSystem (@DEFCONWSALERTS) January 8, 2020
(UPDATE) Around an hour after the first strike Iran launched a second batch of missiles on US military facilities in Iraq, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
“A few minutes ago [3:30 am local time] the second wave of Iranian missile attacks on the US base is launched,” Tashim reported.
The second batch of missiles was reportedly aimed at both the al-Ain assad base and the US military facility near the city of Erbil.
Alleged photos from the Erbil countryside (not confirmed):
Click to see the full-size image
Click to see the full-size image
Click to see the full-size image
Click to see the full-size image
The strike came in response to the US military’s assassination of Major General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Qods Force of the IRGC, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), and other Iraqi and Iranian officers in Baghdad on January 3.
Iran’s Representative of the Supreme Leader to the Secretary of Supreme National Security Council mimicked US President Donald Trump’s tweet after the January 3 attack:
— Saeed Jalili (@DrSaeedJalili) January 7, 2020
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 3, 2020
Click to see the full-size image
The Pentagon officially confirmed strikes in an official comment saying that it would take “necessary measures” to defend its forces.
“Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles against US military and coalition forces in Iraq. It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases,” the Pentagon said adding that it was working on “initial battle damage assessments.”
“As we evaluate the situation and our response, we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend US personnel, partners and allies in the region.”
#BREAKING: President Donald Trump to make a televised address from the Oval Office — CNN. pic.twitter.com/CkEbubidwf
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) January 8, 2020
