On Tuesday we reported on this blog that both the Pentagon and the White House finally “came clean” about the fact that they established a secret “fire base” in northern Iraq — the site responsible for United States Marine Staff Sgt. Louis Cardin’s death at the hands of an ISIS (the Islamic State, IS, ISIL, Daesh, etc.) Katyusha rocket attack.
According to the Marines, another rocket attack happened Monday, just a couple of days after the initial deadly strike.
This from Marine Corps Times:
The company of Marines at the new outpost known as “Firebase Bell” reported small-arms fire Monday morning from a “squad size” team of Islamic State fighters who likely “infiltrated” the area around the Iraqi and U.S. military facilities, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Defense Department spokesman in Baghdad.
No American injuries were reported, Warren said.
The American troops — more than 5,000 total — are reportedly in the area to assist thousands of Iraqi military personnel and “eventually mount an attack on Mosul”, which has been under ISIS control since 2014.
Firebase Bell is about ten miles from the Kurdish and Iraqi-controlled zone from the one held by the Islamic extremist group in the Tigris River valley.
Stay tuned to the blog for more on this developing story.