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发帖数: 38600 | 1 ISIS Penetrates Iraqi Base Used by U.S. Trainers
http://www.wsj.com/articles/islamic-state-militants-attack-iraq
U.S. officials said eight Islamic State militants struck a small building at
the edge of the huge al-Asad Air Base before being repelled by Iraqi forces
. All eight were killed.
Military officials said American and other coalition trainers were “several
kilometers” away from the attack and under no direct threat. There are 400
U.S. Marines and other service members at the base.
An Iraqi security-force official said that at the time of the attack,
Islamic State militants also were firing rockets and mortars at the base.
The attacks on the base came after Islamic State fighters moved against the
nearby Iraqi town of al-Baghdadi earlier on Thursday. The militants,
according to an Iraqi official, took control of a number of government
buildings after the local police fled following a pair of suicide bombings.
It isn’t clear how much of the town the militants control.
...
Friday’s assault was the first in which Islamic State forces sent an armed
team to attack the base. U.S. military officials said Iraqi forces repelled
the attack, which occurred at 7:20 a.m. Iraqi time on Friday, killing all
eight attackers. The U.S. provided overhead surveillance for the Iraqi force.
“Eight guys going after al-Asad—that is a suicide mission. They have no
chance,” said a U.S. defense official. “But they have an interest in al-
Asad and I would venture to say they will have an interest anywhere we have
people.”
The defense official said Islamic State fighters have been targeting the
base because of the propaganda value of the attacks. Even ineffective
attacks in the vicinity of the base have generated widespread newspaper and
television headlines. |
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