The US Department of Defence has released astonishing footage that shows the January 8 Iranian missile attack on the joint Iraqi-US airbase at Al Asad in western Iraq.
Iran launched the attack following a US drone strike on Quds Force commander Qassem Suleimani on January 3 last year in Baghdad.
That incident followed growing escalation between Iran-backed Iraqi militias and coalition forces within Iraq, including a US death on December 27, 2019.
The video shows Iranian ballistic missiles flying down at supersonic speed, causing huge explosions near bunkers and aircraft hangers on the base.
Eleven out of a salvo of 16 warheads hit the site, smashing aircraft hangers.
Each missile warhead contained 1000lb of high explosives, meaning that close to six tonnes of explosives slammed into the base – or nearly two tonnes in the video of the three impacts.
The missile launch was detected by US satellite-based infrared systems, giving soldiers enough time to take cover in concrete bunkers.
However, as many as 100 US soldiers may have suffered what is known as traumatic brain injury, caused by the shockwaves.
