IS suicide bombers 'wearing army uniforms' repelled during attack on Iraqi-US air base
Some of the suicide bombers detonated their vests as they neared the gates of the air base, where US troops were leading training of Iraqi troops.
About 25 Islamic State fighters led by several suicide bombers attacked an air base in Iraq where US troops were leading training, but most of the militants were killed as they reached the perimeter, the Pentagon said.
The IS jihadists, apparently wearing Iraqi soldiers’ uniforms, went on an offensive at the sprawling Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq’s Anbar province yesterday, prompting Iraqi security forces guarding the camp to retaliate.
US forces scrambled drones and Apache helicopters to assist, but the fighting was over by the time they arrived and they never fired a shot, said Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steve Warren.
US Marines had been training Iraqi military troops at the base, but they were stationed about 3.5 kilometres away and were unharmed, said Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby.
Kirby said some of the suicide bombers detonated their vests as they neared the gates of the air base. He said it was as yet unclear if the IS militants were able to breach the facility, stressing that Iraqi officials were trying to get a better understanding of how the attack unfolded.
“It does appear now that most, if not all of them, were wearing Iraqi uniforms,” Kirby said of the attackers.
Militants from the jihadist group had already attacked the Ain al-Asad air base and the nearby town of al-Baghdadi a day earlier, leading to sporadic clashes in the town overnight.