Iraq rocket attack: One Brit and two Americans killed, officials say

US launched wave of airstrikes against Iranian linked militias after US contractor was killed in previous attack

One British and two American citizens are thought to have been killed in a rocket attack at a military base housing international forces in Iraq.

More than 10 people were also wounded in the attack, US officials have told the Associated Press and Reuters news agencies.

Army Col. Myles Caggins, a US military spokesman in Iraq, said more than 15 "small rockets" hit Camp Taji base, which hosts troops from the anti-Isis coalition, but did not comment on casualties.

Officials did not say which group they believe launched the rocket attack, but Kataib Hezbollah or another Iranian-backed Shia militia group is the likely culprit.

US forces in Iraq have been on high alert in recent months amid increased tensions with Iran and allied militias in Iraq. Those tensions skyrocketed following the US assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pledged to take "severe revenge" for the killing.

Long running tensions over Iran's nuclear programme spiked in December last year, when a rocket blamed on Iran-backed militias killed a US contractor at a base near Kirkuk, northern Iraq. The US responded with a wave of airstrikes targeting Kataib Hezbollah in Syria and Iraq.

Soleimani was killed in a US airstrike near Baghdad airport before dawn on January 3. Iran responded by launching more than a dozen missiles at two bases housing US personnel in Iraq.

An Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: “We can confirm we are aware of an incident involving UK service personnel at Camp Taji, Iraq.

“An investigation is underway, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”