Deadly rocket attack on U.S.-led military base in Iraq
16 February 2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he's "outraged" by a rocket attack on a U.S.-led military base in northern Iraq that killed a contractor and wounded six others — including an American service member on Monday.
Why it matters: Although it's unclear who carried out the attack on the usually peaceful Kurdish city of Erbil, it comes amid heightened tensions over the threat of Iran-backed militias against U.S. targets in Iraq, per the New York Times.
Initial reports that Indirect Fire landed on Coalition Forces in Erbil tonight. There was 1 civilian contractor killed, 5 civilian contractors injured and 1 US service member injured. More information to follow.
— OIR Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto (@OIRSpox) February 15, 2021
- The militias have previously been blamed earlier attacks in Iraq.
Details: A barrage of rockets were fired into residential areas of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, during the attack, with one landing near the Chinese Consulate, the NYT reports.
- Blinken said initial reports "indicate that the attacks killed one civilian contractor and injured several members of the Coalition, including one American service member and several American contractors."
- He said he had reached out to Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani "to discuss the incident and to pledge our support for all efforts to investigate and hold accountable those responsible."
Editor's note: This article has been updated with more details on the attack.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.