According to the statement tweeted by the JOC, which oversees most of the Iraqi Army, the vehicle was discovered in the northern neighborhood of Rashidiya.
A photo of the truck given to Iraqi media shows what the JOC identified as a Kia Bongo cabover truck with four sets of five tubes stuffed with rockets, capable of being elevated and lowered.
العمليات المشتركة: ضبط عجلة تحمل منصات اطلاق صواريخ كاتيوشا بالراشدية#قناة_الفلوجة | https://t.co/9PW0nAC2AT pic.twitter.com/scJMpKmgZZ
— قناة الفلوجة-الأخبار (@alfallujahNews) June 15, 2020
The JOC noted that while Iraqi forces approached the truck, two missiles fired “spontaneously” but “fell in a remote area without significant losses.”
وسنحيطكم علما بالتفاصيل حال انجاز المهمة الاستخبارية في ملاحقة هؤلاء والقاء القبض عليهم وتقديمهم للقضاء العراقي لينالوا جزاءهم العادل وفق القانون .
— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) June 14, 2020
قيادة العمليات المشتركة
“Our forces were able to obtain important information that leads to the knowledge of those who carried out this terrorist act,” the JOC said. “We will inform you about the details if the intelligence mission is completed in pursuit of them, arresting them, and presenting them to the Iraqi judiciary to obtain their fair punishment according to the law.”
The JOC did not say to which group it believed the truck’s operators pledged allegiance.
Another Kia truck fitted for firing the unguided rockets was also found in Rashidiya in March, although the launch tubes were of a different design.
سقوط عشرة صواريخ كاتيوشا داخل معسكر التاجي بدون خسائر , تم العثور على عجلة نوع كيا بنكو تحمل منصة صواريخ فيها ثلاث صواريخ متبقية جنوب منطقة الراشدية. pic.twitter.com/onxirvQgTs
— خلية الإعلام الأمني🇮🇶 (@SecMedCell) March 11, 2020
US forces in Iraq are often subjected to bombardments by Katyusha-style weapons, which fire unguided rockets en masse. Two days ago, the joint Iraqi-US base at Camp Taji, just a few miles north of Rashidiya, came under attack by a similar weapon, if not the same truck. Other rocket attacks have targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, located inside the fortified “Green Zone.”
