WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2021) Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Tuesday following the latest attack on a US airbase in Erbil, State Department spokesperson Ned price said in a briefing on Tuesday.
"We are outraged by the attacks yesterday which harmed civilians, coalition forces, including an American service member," Price said. "This morning, he [Blinken] spoke with Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi."
Price also said Blinken spoke with Prime Minister of the Iraqi Kurdistan, Masrour Barzani on Monday night.
Price said the investigation into the attacks is underway and that Washington is in close contact with Kurdish and Iraqi officials to determine those responsible.
"We will in coordination with our Iraqi partners reserve the right to respond at a time and place of our choosing and we will do so," the spokesperson stated.
On Monday, a dozen rockets hit the Erbil Air Base in Iraqi Kurdistan, killing a civilian contractor and hurting nine other people. A Shiite militant group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack was the first on a Western military or diplomatic facility in Iraq in nearly two months, following a spate of rocket strikes in Baghdad in late 2020.
Iran has denied the accusations by Iraqi officials that Tehran played a role in Monday's rocket strike, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
