The United States is assessing the impact of the latest rocket attack on its airbase in Iraq and the option of a forceful retaliation is open, said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki on Wednesday (local time).
"We are still assessing the impact of this latest rocket attack, including determining precise attribution... the President was briefed by his national security team this morning, [and] was, of course, monitoring the details overnight," said Psaki at the regular press briefing.
Earlier, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby had confirmed the death of an American civilian contractor due to "a cardiac episode" after a rocket attack on a US airbase in Iraq.
"A US civilian contractor suffered a cardiac episode while sheltering and sadly passed away shortly after," Kirby said in a statement.
As many as 10 rockets were fired at the Al Asad airbase during which the contractor was sheltering, he said.According to CNN, this attack came less than a week after the US military struck a site in Syria used by two Iran-backed militia groups in response to rocket attacks on American forces in the region in recent weeks.
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor