The United States plans to build an airfield for B-52 strategic bombers in Al Asad airbase in the Iraqi province of Anbar, a source in the province's security services told Al Sumaria TV channel.
"The US military intends to build a massive international high-performance airfield for B-52 strategic bombers in Ayn Al Asad airbase in the Al Baghdadi area of the Hit district in the west of the Anbar province," the source told the broadcaster.
He added that the present US forces had expanded infrastructure to build an airstrip for bombers.
Earlier in the day, Wall Street Journal reported Pentagon's plans to send B-52 bombers to the country, which remains outraged over the extrajudicial killing of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani by the US last week.
The situation in Iraq has become much more complicated after the US assassination of Soleimani in the early hours of Friday. On Sunday, the Iraqi parliament voted to expel US troops from the country in response.
