Turkey condemns deadly Iraq attack on coalition troops

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The Turkish Foreign Ministry on March 12 condemned the deadly rocket attack on an Iraqi military base of the anti-ISIL coalition.

In a statement, the ministry condemned March 11's rocket attack on the Camp Taji where anti-Daesh coalition and NATO's Iraq Mission personnel are located.

Turkey called on the Iraqi authorities to capture the perpetrators of the attack and bring them to justice and urged the authorities to take "necessary measures to prevent such attacks from reoccurring."

"We hope that this attack targeting foreign country personnel, who are supporting the fight against terrorism and contributing to the establishment of security capacity in Iraq, will not cause a new conflict spiral that may endanger the stability and security of our region," the statement added.

In the meantime, top  Iraqi politicians joined the United Nations on March 12 in condemning a rocket attack north of Baghdad.

A volley of 18 rockets slammed into the Taji air base late on March 11, killing a British soldier, a U.S. soldier and an American contractor in the deadliest attack in years on U.S. forces in Iraq.    

There was no claim of responsibility but Washington has accused Iran-backed factions of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance of carrying out similar attacks.    

On March 12 morning, Iraq's military command said the attack was "a serious security challenge" and pledged to open an investigation.

President Barham Saleh and parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbussi condemned a "terrorist attack" which targeted "Iraq and its security."   

The U.N. mission in Iraq called for "maximum restraint on all sides".    

"These ongoing attacks are a clear and substantial threat to the country, and the risk of rogue action by armed groups remains a constant concern," it said in a statement.    

"The last thing Iraq needs is to serve as an arena for vendettas and external battles."   

The attack was the 22nd since October on U.S. interests in Iraq. U.S. diplomatic offices have come under attack as well as the bases where the 5,200 American troops stationed in Iraq are based.