WASHINGTON: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Iraq on Monday the United States would retaliate “as necessary” against any new assaults on Americans after a slew of rocket attacks.

The US last week launched airstrikes against an Iranian-allied paramilitary group following a deadly attack on an Iraqi base housing US troops – but rocket fire has continued unabated.

In a phone call with Iraq’s caretaker prime minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, Mr Pompeo said that Baghdad “must defend coalition personnel” who are officially deployed as part of the campaign against the militant Islamic State group.

“Secretary Pompeo noted that America will not tolerate attacks and threats to American lives and will take additional action as necessary in self-defence,” the State Department said in a statement.

“Secretary Pompeo underscored that the groups responsible for these attacks must be held accountable,” it said.

A fresh spate of rockets — brazenly fired in the daytime — targeted the crowded Taji air base north of Baghdad on Saturday, wounding three members of the US-led coalition.

None of the attacks have ever been claimed but the US has blamed hard-line Shia paramilitary groups, which are allied with neighbouring Iran and incorporated into the Iraqi state.

On Wednesday, a similar rocket attack at Taji killed two American personnel and a British soldier in the deadliest such incident at an Iraqi base in years.

The US responded on Friday with airstrikes on arms depots it said were used by the faction Kataeb Hezbollah and destroyed part of the under-construction airport in the Shia shrine city of Karbala.

Iraq’s military said that five members of its security forces and one civilian were killed, none members of the targeted paramilitary group.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said 33 Katyusha rockets were launched near a section of the Taji base which houses US-led coalition troops.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2020