Rockets target US Embassy in Baghdad, no casualties

BAGHDAD — Three rockets were fired at Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Monday without causing any casualties, Iraq’s army said. Security officials said the U.S. Embassy was the target.

Two Iraqi security officials said one rocket fell within the perimeter of the vast U.S. Embassy complex and and another fell in the residential neighbourhood of Harthiya, outside the Green Zone. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The rockets were launched from the Salam area of Baghdad, a statement from the military said.

It said there were no casualties and an investigation was ongoing. There was minor property damage, including a damaged vehicle. The Green Zone houses foreign embassies and is the seat of Iraq’s government.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was the third attack to target the American presence in Iraq in a week. A U.S.-led coalition contractor was killed and other civilians were wounded in a rocket attack outside Irbil international airport last Tuesday. A little-known Shiite militant group calling itself the Guardians of Blood Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Saturday, rockets wounded personnel working for a U.S. defence company at Balad airbase in Salahaddin province.

The U.S. Embassy was a frequent target of rocket attacks during the Trump administration. The pace of attacks abated in the weeks before Biden took office and recently resumed.

Qassim Abdul-Zahra, The Associated Press