Rockets Land in U.S. Embassy Compound in Baghdad's Green Zone
Rockets Land in U.S. Embassy Compound in Baghdad's Green Zone by Chad Garland - Stars & Stripes
A rocket attack on the heavily fortified Baghdad Green Zone on Sunday hit the U.S. Embassy, drawing condemnation from Iraq’s acting prime minister, who said such acts threaten to drag the country into a new conflict.
Five rockets fell onto the international zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, but left no casualties, the Iraqi government’s security media cell said in an online statement. Of those, an unspecified number hit inside the U.S. Embassy compound, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said in an online statement.
Several media outlets were reporting that three rockets hit inside the embassy about 7:30 p.m., including one that struck and damaged the dining facility. The State Department did not immediately respond to query on the matter, but a coalition security official speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed a dining facility was hit…
U.S. Calls On Iraq to Protect Baghdad Embassy After Rocket Attack - Agence France-Presse
The United States called on Iraq Sunday to protect American diplomatic facilities after the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad was hit by three rockets.
"We call on the Government of Iraq to fulfill its obligations to protect our diplomatic facilities," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement.
The attack marked a dangerous escalation in a spree of rocket attacks in recent months that have targeted the embassy or Iraqi military bases where American troops are deployed.
None of the attacks has been claimed, but Washington has repeatedly blamed Iran-backed military factions in Iraq.
On Sunday, one rocket hit an embassy cafeteria at dinner time while two others landed nearby, a security source told AFP…