BAGHDAD (AFP, REUTERS) -At least 10 rockets slammed into a military base in western Iraq hosting US-led coalition troops on Wednesday (Mar 3), security sources said, leaving one civilian contractor dead. It was the second rocket attack in Iraq this month after several weeks of escalating US-Iran tensions on Iraqi soil, and came two days before Pope Francis is due to visit the country. Coalition spokesman Colonel Wayne Marotto confirmed that 10 rockets hit the base at 7:20 am (0420 GMT) while Iraqi security forces said they had found the platform from which 10 "Grad-type rockets" hit the Ain al-Assad base. A Baghdad Operations Command official told Reuters earlier that about 13 rockets were launched from a location about 8 km from the base, which is in western Anbar province. Another Iraqi security source and a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the rockets were launched from the Baiader area, west of Baghdadi city. "One civilian contractor died of a heart attack during the attack," a high-level security source told AFP, adding that he could not confirm the contractor's nationality. The Pope will visit Iraq from March 5-8 despite deteriorating security in some parts of the country. The death marks… Read full this story
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