Boris Johnson recounts his “ deep sadness & amp; # 39; paying tribute to the British Army doctor killed

Prime Minister Boris Johnson today called the attack on an Iraqi military base that killed a British soldier "deplorable".

A British soldier and two American soldiers were killed and about a dozen people were injured when 15 small rockets hit the Iraqi Taji military camp north of Baghdad on Wednesday.

The Defense Ministry said the deceased was a member of the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Mr Johnson said: "It was with deep sadness that I learned that a British soldier was killed in the attack on Taji military base last night. My thoughts are with their loved ones during this extremely difficult time.

"Our soldiers and women work tirelessly every day to maintain security and stability in the region – their presence makes us all safer."

"The Minister of Foreign Affairs has met with the United States Secretary of State and we will continue to liaise with our international partners to fully understand the details of this heinous attack."

It was then that the Secretary of Defense, Ben Wallace, called the attack a "cowardly and retrograde act".

“The men and women of the British armed forces are in Iraq to help this country establish stability and prosperity. The people who did this are not friends of Iraq.

“My thoughts are with the families of those whose loved ones have been killed or injured. We will not forget their sacrifice and will ensure that those who committed these acts are brought to justice. "

US officials last night said it was too early to blame, but any indication that Iranian-backed militias were responsible could spark a new wave of military escalation between the United States and Iran.

US officials last night refused to quantify the number of soldiers and contractors among the dead and injured and noted that information was barely there and could change.

U.S. Army Colonel Myles Caggins, spokesman for the U.S. Army in Iraq, said more than 15 small rockets hit the Iraqi base at Camp Taji around 7:35 p.m. in Iraq on March 11.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Iraqi army said that no casualties were reported during the attack.

Camp Taji, located just north of Baghdad, has been used as a training base for several years.

There are up to 6,000 American soldiers in Iraq, who train and advise Iraqi forces and lead counterterrorism missions.

Iranian-backed paramilitary groups have regularly bombed and bombed bases in Iraq that house American forces and the area around the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

Officials have not said which group they say launched the rocket attack on Wednesday, but Kataib Hezbollah or another Iranian-backed Shia militia group is likely.

Last year, the Kezib Hezbollah militia was accused of attacking a base that killed an American entrepreneur, which led to American reprisals against it in Iraq and Syria.

On January 3, 11 Iranian ballistic missiles hit al-Asad airbase in Iraq after the United States killed key Iranian generals Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The Iranian attack diagnosed more than 100 US military personnel with mild traumatic brain injury.

Kataib Hezbollah is designated as “ foreign terrorist organization '' by the State Department since 2009.

The assessment and investigation into Wednesday's attack is underway. This is the largest attack on an American base in Iraq since January.

The attack came two days after enemy forces killed two American soldiers while accompanying Iraqi forces in northern Iraq.

The deaths of the two soldiers prompted senior military officials to order a review of how their forces are conducting missions in Iraq and Syria after the deaths of members of the special operations service.

The soldiers were killed by “ enemy forces '' & amp; # 39; during a mission to eliminate the stronghold on Sunday in the mountains of north central Iraq, according to a statement released online by Joint Task Force, which commands Operation Inherent Resolve.

The unnamed soldiers who were killed were part of a Navy special operations team that worked with the Iraqi counterterrorism forces, reports the New york times.

They had engaged in a violent shootout while clearing a well-defended cave complex in the mountains near the town of Makhmur, about 40 miles southwest of Erbil, reports the Times.

A military official said that the killed soldiers were to be pulled out with a winch after falling into a crevasse. A military spokesman confirmed that additional forces had been deployed to bring out the dead, which took almost six hours.

The review that has been ordered following the deaths of soldiers will examine how the U.S. military provides advice and assistance to local troops.

During the review, U.S. military operations will continue, they said.