Multiple rockets were fired at the U.S. Embassy in Iraq’s capital early Thursday, according to Iraqi security sources, the latest in a series of attacks on U.S. military and diplomatic sites in recent days.
The rockets did not hit the embassy, instead landing elsewhere in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone.
The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq said Wednesday 14 rockets were fired at a base that hosts U.S. military personnel in the western province of Anbar.
Coalition spokesman U.S. Army Colonel Wayne Marotto said the rockets landed on the Ain Al-Assad Air Base and its perimeter, and that two people sustained minor injuries.
Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesman Yehia Rasool called the rocket fire a “terrorist attack,” and said, “the enemies of Iraq are intrusive and targeting the country’s security, sovereignty and the safety of our citizens.”
The United States has blamed Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq and Syria for a wave of attacks on U.S. troops and military facilities where they are based.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a briefing Wednesday that those attacks “are representative of the threat that Iran-backed militias present fundamentally to Iraq’s sovereignty and to Iraq’s stability.”
The U.S. military has responded with airstrikes targeting positions used by Iran-backed militias. The Pentagon said late last month its strikes were aimed at preventing deterring future attacks. (VOA)
•PHOTO: US Embassy in Iraq
