CNN has published a video of the aftermath of last week’s missile attack on a US military base in Iraq, which was staged by Iran in response to the assassination of high-ranking Iranian General Qasem Soleimani.
The video showed concrete slabs scattered across the area and several dilapidated dwellings housing US military personnel.
The clip also caught an undamaged spate of Saddam Hussein-era bunkers, in which US servicemen hunkered down and survived the missile attack.
The footage was released after CNN cited unnamed sources as saying on Sunday that US troops stationed at an Iraqi air base knew beforehand that the facility will be attacked by Iran, something that helped them to safely take shelter.
WATCH: New video claims to show #Iran missile attack on al-Asad air base in #Iraq, where US troops are stationed
— Samiullah Khan (@ProSamiKhan) January 8, 2020
Video comes from Iran's FARS News Agency#IranAttacks #IranVsUS #IranUsa #IranWar #المفقود_احمد_كعكي #ابن_دغيثر pic.twitter.com/Qh3yJDt65A
The sources claimed that most US forces either left the base or took cover in bunkers for two-and-a-half-hours before Iran start launching missiles on Wednesday.
At the same time, the sources asserted that although the US forces knew about the attack, they didn't know what the nature of the attack would be.
#IranvsUSA
— Dr. Gori (@juniorzealves) January 8, 2020
Iran crisis: Tehran launches missile attack on US-Iraqi Ain al-Asad air base pic.twitter.com/zCdAo0Sc0r
One of the sources described the fact that there were no casualties in the missile as a "miracle", claiming that the projectiles detonated just a few metres from the bunkers.
Iran Missile Attack on Ayn Al-Asad Air Base
On Wednesday, Iran fired about 35 missiles on US targets in Erbil, Iraq and the country's Ayn al-Asad Air Base, which houses US military forces, to retaliate against the Iranian general’s assassination.
A head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)’s eiite Quds Force, Soleimani was killed on 3 January, when a US drone strike targeted his car at the Baghdad International Airport.
The attack was ordered by US President Donald Trump who described it as a preemptive and defensive strike aimed at destroying “the terrorist number one anywhere in the world”.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, for his part, pledged that Tehran would take revenge for what it views as an act of state terror.
The US drone attack worsened further the already strained relations between Tehran and Washington which had been deteriorating since the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and subsequent re-imposition of strict economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
