U.S. defense contractor killed in Iraq rocket attack

An American defense contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk on Friday, the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State said in a statement.  Several U.S. service members and Iraqi personnel were wounded.

The contractor's name has not been released. 

Colonel Myles Caggins, a spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria, said Iraqi security forces were leading the investigation and response to the attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Such attacks have taken place on several occasions over the past few months, with U.S. officials for the most part blaming Iran-backed fighters. In November, a barrage of Katyusha rockets targeted an Iraqi air base that houses American troops south of the city of Mosul on Friday

The Iraqi military said earlier Friday that several rockets were launched into Iraq's K1 military base, which houses U.S. and Iraqi forces, according to Reuters.  

Iraq has been roiled since October 1 by protests that have left more than 450 people dead, the vast majority of them demonstrators killed by security forces firing tear gas and live ammunition. The mass uprisings prompted the resignation of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi late last month.