Three rockets fall near US embassy in Iraq

Monitoring Desk

BAGHDAD: Three rockets hit near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital s high-security Green Zone, security sources told AFP, with no immediate reports of casualties.

Sirens could be heard across the zone immediately after the rockets made impact and speakers were telling those inside to take shelter.

The US has blamed Iran-backed paramilitary groups for a spate of similar attacks in recent months on the Green Zone, but there has never been a claim of responsibility.

Iraqi police informed media that three Katyusha rockets fell inside the Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions. The rockets were launched from the Zafaraniyah district outside Baghdad, the sources said, adding that two rockets landed near the US embassy.

On the afternoon of 8 January, two rockets landed in the Green Zone, hours after Iran launched more than a dozen missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing US troops.

That rocket salvo was in turn a retaliation for a US drone strike on 3 January that killed senior Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in Iraq, resulting in heightened tensions in the region.

Courtesy: (AFP)