Multiple rocket attack near US Embassy in Iraq’s Baghdad : American military source

Baghdad

Several rockets were fired near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad early Sunday. A source in the US Army provided this information. This is the latest incident of attacks against American establishments in the country. US sources and a Western diplomat said that it was not clear how many rockets were fired. There is no report of any casualty even now. Local correspondents heard several sounds of explosions from a plane hovering near the Green Zone of the high-security US embassy.

This is the 19th attack since October 2019 to target approximately 5,200 US troops deployed with the US Embassy or local forces in Iraq. No one ever claimed responsibility for these attacks. But the US has raised doubts over Iran-backed group Hashd al-Shaabi. In December, a US contractor was killed in a rocket attack in northern Iraq. A few days later, the US launched attacks against the radical Hashad group in western Iraq.

Iran’s top general Qasim Suleimani and his right-hand man, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, considered the right hand of Hashad, were killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad. The Hashad faction spoke of avenging these deaths. Hours before Sunday’s attack, Harkat al-Nuzba, an Iran-backed faction of Hashad, launched a “countdown” to expel US forces from the country.