According to the statement by the Security Media Cell of the Iraqi prime minister's office, "an outlaw group" that had attacked Balad Air Base north of Baghdad with three rockets on Wednesday had "returned again late on Wednesday night and targeted Baghdad Airport."
The office said three drones had attacked Camp Victory, a sprawling former US military installation surrounding Baghdad airport that still houses US forces. One of the drones was reportedly shot down.
A security official told AFP the attack was carried out by a "booby-trapped drone."
A spokesperson from the US-led coalition told Sputnik they had opened an investigation, clarifying that the incident took place at the Bagdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC), a US State Department facility adjacent to Baghdad airport.
"This evening, there was an incident with unmanned aerial systems impacting at BDSC," the spokesperson said. "The incident is under investigation and more details will be provided as they become available."
The airport and the facilities near it have come under attack several times in the past, but perhaps the most infamous attack at the airport wasn't against US forces, but by them. On January 3, 2020, A US MQ-9 Reaper drone destroyed several vehicles at the airport, killing Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of the Kata'ib Hezbollah militia and deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces. The strike, made without permission from the Iraqi government, prompted widespread outcry and Iraqi lawmakers voted days later to ask US forces to leave the country. They refused.
