122mm Grad rockets fired from Baghdad’s eastern outskirts struck the Martyr Mohammed Alaa Air Base, adjacent to Baghdad International Airport, early Monday, destroying an Antonov An-32B twin-turboprop transport aircraft and causing no casualties, Iraq’s Defense Ministry said.
The attack began at 1:55 a.m. local time. Iraqi security forces subsequently seized three rocket launch platforms in the Jisr Diyala area on the city’s eastern al-Rusafa side. The base sits on Baghdad’s western perimeter, placing the launch site roughly 9 to 12 miles away, within the effective range of the 122mm Grad rocket, which can reach targets up to approximately 12 miles distant.
🇮🇶 Drone Attack Damages Iraqi Military Aircraft at Baghdad Airport
An Iranian drone strike has reportedly damaged an Iraqi Air Force Antonov An-32B military transport aircraft at Baghdad International Airport. The incident highlights ongoing escalation and the vulnerability of… pic.twitter.com/MbCs9wxsMI
— Global Defense Insight (@Defense_Talks) March 30, 2026
Iraq’s Defense Ministry condemned the strike as a “cowardly criminal act targeting the military institution and its defense capabilities,” warning that armed forces would pursue those responsible and “will not tolerate” any threat to Iraq’s sovereignty.
A rocket attack targeting Mohammed Alaa Air Base near Baghdad airport has destroyed an Antonov-132 aircraft belonging to the Iraqi Air Force, according to the country’s defense ministry.#Iraq pic.twitter.com/LPESAp2xMk
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) March 30, 2026
The ministry said authorities immediately began assessing damage and tracking the rockets’ origin.
The An-32B, which the ministry’s Arabic-language statement referred to as an “Antonov-132,” is a tactical transport aircraft assigned to the Iraqi Air Force’s 23rd Squadron at the base.
On Sunday, Iraqi forces foiled an attempted Katyusha rocket attack in Kirkuk’s Huzairan area, seizing a platform with two launch rails and four rockets ready for immediate firing, the Kirkuk Operations Command said. The command described the interdiction as part of “ongoing efforts to pursue terrorist elements and foil their sabotage plans.”
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an Iran-aligned Iraqi paramilitary umbrella group, separately said three of its fighters were killed and four wounded near Kirkuk International Airport in what it described as a “treacherous Zionist-US attack.” Those claims have not been independently verified.
The strikes are part of a surge in drone, rocket, and missile attacks across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region that began after the United States and Israel launched a coordinated military campaign against Iran on February 28, 2026.
Iran-aligned Iraqi armed groups have carried out repeated attacks on military installations in the country since then.
Iranian-backed militias struck a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and an air defense radar at Victory Base Complex near Baghdad International Airport on March 23, and released footage of the first-ever first-person view (FPV) drone strike on a U.S. installation in Iraq on March 14.
