80 US personnel killed in Iran missile attack: IRGC source

Tehran: Some 80 US personnel were killed and nearly 200 others injured during Iran’s missile attack on the American Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq on Wednesday, which was launched in retaliation to the killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani, an IRGC source has claimed.

Speaking to the Tehran-based private Tasnim News Agency, the source said the ballistic missiles launched by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) killed at least 80 “American terrorist forces”.

“At least 104 targets from the positions of the Americans and their allies in the region have been identified, and if the Americans make any mistake again, those positions will be targeted,” the source warned.

He added that a number of American drones and helicopters and a large amount of military equipment have been seriously damaged in the attack.

Fifteen missiles struck the Ain al-Asad airbase, none of which were intercepted by the US army’s radar system, the source said.

The US is yet to officially comment on the number of casualties.

In the early hours of Wednesday, the IRGC Aerospace Force launched the heavy ballistic missile attacks on the Ain al-Asad base near the border with Syria and a US operated airbase in Erbil in retaliation for the January 3 American drone attack that killed Soleimani in Baghdad, reports the semi-official FARS News Agency.

Ain al-Asad has a 4 km runway at 188m altitude from sea levels, which is the main and the largest US airbase in Iraq.

All flights have been cancelled at Erbil airport.

Iraq said the attacks have not taken any toll from its army men stationed at these two bases.

Following the attack, the US army had blocked entrance into Ain al-Asad to everyone, including the Iraqi army.

Published on: Jan 8, 2020 at 12:50 IST

IANS