Iraqi security officials report explosion at US-led coalition airport base

Iraqi security forces said an explosion was heard at a US-led coalition's military base at the Baghdad international airport late Tuesday, a day before Iran's president was due to visit.

"At 11pm (8pm GMT) an explosion was heard inside Baghdad International Airport in the area occupied by international coalition advisors," according to a statement posted on social media platform X by the spokesman for the Joint Operations Command, Iraqi Major General Tahseen Al Khafaji.

"Iraqi security forces were unable ... to determine the origin of the explosion, which has not been claimed," according to the statement, which was attributed to Iraqi security forces and also published by state news agency INA.

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Air traffic was unaffected and no flights were interrupted, it added.

A senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that "two Katyusha-type rockets" had caused the explosion.

"One fell on the wall of the Iraqi anti-terrorist forces compound. The second was inside the base hosting the international coalition led by Washington," said the official.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was expected in Iraq on Wednesday in his first trip abroad since taking office in July.

Relations between Iran and Iraq have grown closer over the past two decades.

Tehran is one of Iraq's leading trade partners and wields considerable political influence in Baghdad where its Iraqi allies dominate parliament and the current government.

• World