SAMARRA: US contractor Lockheed Martin has withdrawn its staff from an Iraq base where it had been maintaining the Iraqi army’s F-16 fighter jets, military sources said, after a spate of rocket attacks.
At least five attacks have targeted the Balad air base, where other US companies including Sallyport are also present, since the start of the year.
At least three foreign subcontractors and one Iraqi subcontractor have been wounded.
The attacks are rarely claimed, and when they are it is by obscure groups that experts say are a facade for Iran-backed Iraqi factions.
“On Monday morning, 72 Lockheed Martin technicians left,” a high-ranking Iraqi military official told AFP, while a second confirmed the move.
“The technical team in charge of maintenance of the F-16s left the Balad base for Irbil,” the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, the first source added, requesting anonymity.
Baghdad had sent its national security adviser Qassim Al-Araji to the Balad base last week to try to reassure the American firm, days after the latest salvo.
Tahsin Al-Khafaji, spokesman for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, said Lockheed Martin would “continue to advise the Iraqi air force, even remotely,” citing contractual obligations.
The United States has provided Iraq with 34 F-16s, all stationed at Balad. It has also trained Iraqi pilots, while American contractors have been in charge of the fleet’s upkeep.
Irbil was long considered safer than the rest of Iraq, but the situation has changed recently and Washington has deployed a C-RAM rocket defense system as well as Patriot missiles there, as it has done in Baghdad to protect its troops and diplomats.
In mid-April, pro-Iran fighters sent an explosives-packed drone crashing into Irbil airport in the first reported use of such a weapon against a base housing US troops in Iraq.
The Pentagon has warned that attacks against the US-led coalition rose in the first three months of this year.
“In Iraq, Iran-aligned militias increased their attacks targeting coalition positions and assets this quarter, prompting a temporary departure of US contractors supporting Iraq’s F-16 program,” it said in a report to Congress released earlier this month.
US contractor leaves Iraq base over rocket attacks
https://arab.news/wyg5n
US contractor leaves Iraq base over rocket attacks
- At least three foreign subcontractors and one Iraqi subcontractor have been wounded
- Baghdad sent its national security adviser to Balad base last week to try to reassure the American firm
Senegalese president meets Kuwaiti crown prince ahead of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week
- Bassirou Diomaye Faye visits Kuwait and the UAE this week to strengthen his country’s ties with Gulf nations
LONDON: The president of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, arrived in Kuwait on Monday for an official visit before traveling on to the UAE to participate in Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week.
Faye, who was accompanied by ministers responsible for national transformation, African integration, foreign affairs, finance and water management, held talks with Kuwait’s crown prince, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, on a number of issues, officials said.
The president aims to strengthen ties between Senegal and Gulf countries during his visits to Kuwait and the UAE this week, his office said. And on Jan. 14 and 15 he will take part in the final two days of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, described as a significant annual, international event dedicated to addressing the challenges related to sustainable development, energy transition and innovation.
Faye was welcomed on arrival in Kuwait by the country’s prime minister, Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah; the deputy assistant foreign minister for African affairs, Naif Mohammed Al-Mudhaf; and other officials.
