Katyusha rockets target US embassy in Baghdad
Katyusha rockets targeted the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Saturday and sirens sounded, though it was not immediately clear whether the rockets caused any damage or casualties.
The attack was the first time the embassy had been fired on in more than two years.
The last recorded strike was in late 2023, when around seven mortar rounds landed in the compound amid a wave of attacks by Iran-aligned militias on U.S. assets in Iraq and Syria over Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Explosions were heard near the embassy in central Baghdad around 9 p.m.local time, and sirens warning people to take cover sounded.
A senior Iraqi security official told Reuters the C-RAM defence system brought down one of the rockets and that none landed inside the embassy.
The official said there were no American casualties.
The attack indicates that Iran-aligned Iraqi militias — who have vowed to retaliate for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader — have widened their targets beyond U.S. military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan and U.S. energy interests to now include the U.S. Embassy.
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