Satellite photos show damage to US base in Iraq

After several Iranian missiles hit two military bases in Iraq, President Donald Trump claimed, there were no casualties, satellite photos show the damage to Ain al-Assad base in Iraq

Satellite photographs of impact points of Iranian missiles that hit the portion of the Ain al-Asad base hosting American forces indicate that the strikes were deliberately aimed and intended to kill U.S. personnel, said an independent arms control expert. (Reuters Photo)

Iranian missiles damaged or destroyed seven buildings in the part of Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq that houses U.S. military personnel, satellite photographs appear to show.

Two images provided by commercial satellite company Planet Labs Inc., and reviewed by Reuters, show five missile impact points in that part of the base.

The extent of the damage can be gauged by comparing the photographs, taken after Wednesday's attack, with images from Dec. 25 last year.

At least three of the structures appear to be aircraft maintenance hangers. Some of the buildings or structures have completely disappeared. Only parts of the others remain.

"They targeted the American portion of the base. They meant to hit it and they did hit it," said Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.

U.S. President Donald Trump said no Americans were harmed in the strikes, which Iranian said it launched in retaliation for the killing last week in Iraq of an Iranian general.

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