Contractor killed, U.S. service member injured in Irbil rocket attack

A civilian contractor was killed and a U.S. service member injured on Monday night when a U.S. facility in Irbil came under rocket fire.

Irbil is the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Coalition spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto tweeted that "indirect fire landed on coalition forces" in Irbil, leaving six people injured and the civilian contractor dead.

A U.S. defense official told The Washington Post it appears that 14 rockets targeted the facility, which is near the Irbil airport, and the U.S. service member suffered a concussion. In a statement, Iraqi President Barham Salih called the incident "a dangerous escalation and a criminal terrorist attack."

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There has been an increase in such rocket attacks across Iraq, and Iraqi and Western officials say militias backed by Iran are responsible. A militia calling itself the Guardians of Blood Brigades posted online that it was behind the attack, claiming it launched 24 rockets as a way of targeting "the American occupation," the Post reports.