The 2019 K-1 Air Base attack was a rocket attack on the
K-1 Air Base
K-1 Air Base, or Kaywan, is a former Iraqi Air Force base and military base in the Kirkuk Governorate of Iraq. It was captured by Multi-National Force – Iraq, Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, later served as the headqu ...
in
Kirkuk province
Kirkuk Governorate ( ar, محافظة كركوك, Muḥāfaẓat Karkūk, ku, پارێزگای کەرکووک, Parêzgeha Kerkûkê/Parêzgayi Kerkûk, tr, Kerkük ili) or Kirkuk Province is a governorate in northern Iraq. The governorate has an ...
in
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
on 27 December 2019. The air base was one of many Iraqi military bases that host
Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) personnel and, according to the coalition, was attacked by more than 30 rockets. The attack occurred during the 2019–2021 Persian Gulf crisis and preceded a series of events that eventually brought
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
to the brink of open conflict.
Casualties
According to Iraqi Brigadier General Ahmed Adnan, the chief of intelligence for the
federal police
A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.
Jurisdiction
LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction.
LEAs ...
at K-1, three rockets fell on the Iraqi side of the K-1 base, one on the perimeter fence and about seven on the American side. At least one hit a munitions store on the American side, causing a large secondary explosion.
[ The rocket attack killed an American civilian contractor and injured four U.S. service members and two ]Iraqi security forces
The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) is a term used by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to describe law enforcement and military forces of the federal government of the Republic of Iraq. During the Iraq War, these entities received trainin ...
personnel. Not much of the details of the attack was immediately made available and the names of other American military service members wounded in the attack were undisclosed, according to ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''.
The American contractor that was killed, an Iraqi-American named Nawres Waleed Hamid from Sacramento, California
)
, image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg
, mapsize = 250x200px
, map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...
, worked at the base as a linguist under the company Valiant Integrated Services. Valiant Integrated Services paid for his funeral and burial at the Greater Sacramento Muslim Cemetery, which took place on 4 January 2020, the day after his body was returned to the United States.
Alleged perpetrators
The U.S. blamed the Iranian-backed Kata'ib Hezbollah
Kata'ib Hezbollah ( ar, كتائب حزب الله, lit=Battalions of the Party of God)—or the Hezbollah Battalions—is a radical Iraqi Shiite paramilitary group which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces backed by Iran. During the Ir ...
militia—a subgroup of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU)—for the attack, citing evidence and military intelligence that was not made public or shared with the Iraqis. Kata'ib Hezbollah denied its involvement and no other group has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack. According to CNN, a U.S. official stated that there were many similarities to 10 other rocket attacks in prior months, which they attributed to militias supported by Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
. According to Iraqi General Ahmed Adnan, U.S. investigators removed any rocket fragments and one unexploded rocket from the Iraqi side of the base, making it difficult for the Iraqis to conduct a deeper, independent forensic investigation.[ According to ]VOA News
Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
and ''The New York Times'', a launchpad for Katyusha rockets was discovered in a deserted white pickup truck close to the air base by Iraqi security personnel. Four rockets that failed to launch were found in their silos. The Iraqis sent the pickup to U.S. forces where, according to two unidentified U.S. officials, U.S. investigators found evidence in the truck that helped attribute it to Kata'ib Hezbollah. The officials also cited separate communications intercepts that reportedly showed the group's involvement.[
On 6 February 2020, over a month after the attack, ''The New York Times'' reported that Iraqi military and intelligence officials said they had no direct evidence to prove that Kata'ib Hezbollah, which reportedly had not had a presence in Kirkuk Province since 2014, was involved in the attack. Iraqi officials suggested that the ]Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
(ISIL), a Sunni terror group, may have orchestrated it given that the rockets were launched from a Sunni part of Kirkuk notorious for attacks and executions by the group, which would have also made the area hostile territory for a Shiite militia like Khata'ib Hezbollah, and the fact that ISIL had carried out three attacks relatively close to the base in the ten days before the attack on K-1. The ''Times'' report also highlighted discrepancies with the Iraqi and U.S. accounts of the attack, including the amount of rockets fired; the U.S. said 31 rockets were fired, several Iraqi officers at K-1 said as many as 16 were fired, and Gen. Adnan said 11 were fired.
By February 2020, the U.S. had yet to share its intelligence with Iraqi officials that it says linked the attack to the militia. Iraqi intelligence officials said it was difficult to assess the U.S. assertions without seeing their intelligence. According to U.S. officials, despite the fact that they closely cooperate on counter-terrorism
Counterterrorism (also spelled counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, incorporates the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or ...
efforts, the U.S. does not always share sensitive intelligence with Iraq because of Iranian influence and operatives present within the central government that could feed intelligence to Iranian leadership.[
]
U.S. response
The airbase attack led to a rapid series of events within the following week, starting with U.S. retaliation in Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
and Syria, which targeted five Kata'ib Hezbollah weapon storage facilities and command and control
Command and control (abbr. C2) is a "set of organizational and technical attributes and processes ... hatemploys human, physical, and information resources to solve problems and accomplish missions" to achieve the goals of an organization or en ...
locations. At least 25 militia members reportedly died and at least 55 were reportedly wounded.
It was followed by a militia attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which in turn led to a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad International Airport, killing Iranian general Qasem Soleimani
Qasem Soleimani ( fa, قاسم سلیمانی, ; 11 March 19573January 2020) was an Iranian military officer who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). From 1998 until his assassination in 2020, he was the commander of the Qu ...
and PMU commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis
Jamal Ja'far Muhammad Ali Al Ibrahim ( ar, جمال جعفر محمد علي آل إبراهيم ', 16 Nov 1954 – 2 January 2020), known by the kunya Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis ( ar, أبو مهدي المهندس, lit=Father of Mahdi, the Engine ...
.
Notes
References
{{Trump presidency
Islamic State insurgency in Iraq (2017–present)
2019 murders in Iraq
Attacks in Iraq
Attacks on buildings and structures in 2019
Attacks on buildings and structures in Iraq
December 2019 events in Iraq
Iran–Iraq relations
Iran–United States relations
Iraq–United States relations
Presidency of Donald Trump
Attacks in Iraq in 2019