SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraqi forces have detained a man allegedly involved in a rocket attack on Baghdad airport on Friday, security sources said.
Al-Arabiya channel cited a security source as saying that the security forces detained Akram al-Qaisi, a member of armed militias, who “hid the car” used as a launch pad to fire the rockets.
Six rockets landed in the Baghdad airport early on Friday, damaging two commercial planes, according to the Iraqi military.
A “special” security force detained Akram Mahmoud Rashid al-Qaisi on the road between Diyala and Baghdad, Asharq al-Awsat newspaper cited a security source as saying.
The suspect born in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib area in 1984 “belongs to one of the armed militias”, the source was cited as saying.
“He was a partner in planning and executing the airport attack,” the source added.
There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi authorities.
The rockets landed in the airport’s compound and near an adjacent U.S. air base, police sources told Reuters.
The U.S. air base, known as Camp Victory, is located around the perimeter of Baghdad’s civilian airport.
Iraqi Airways said the attack had damaged one of its out-of-service planes parked near the airport.
AP cited two security officials as saying that the rockets fell between the civilian and military areas of the airport.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned the attack, calling it an attempt to “undermine Iraq’s reputation, that we have endeavored to restore in the region and internationally”.
Kadhimi called on Iraqi political parties to unequivocally condemn the attack and support Iraqi security forces in the search for those responsible.
Their silence over the frequency of attacks has served as a cover for perpetrators, he said. He also called on the international community not to place restrictions on travel to Iraq as a result of the attack.
Rocket attacks which U.S. and some Iraqi officials blame on Iran-aligned Shia militia groups who oppose the U.S. military presence in the region have regularly hit the complex in recent years.
The Iran-aligned militias have in previous years carried out dozens of similar attacks, mostly causing little harm. But the attacks have become more sophisticated in the past year, including with the use of fixed-wing and multi-rotor drones.
