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. 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.
Green Zone is in Central Baghdad, where government buildings and diplomatic facilities are located. The development comes in the wake of escalated tensions in the region following the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this month.
Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike ordered by US President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport on January 3. Days later, Tehran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles at two US military bases in Iraq. Soleimani’s death had marked a dramatic escalation in tension between the US and Iran.-AFP
