Rocket attack hits near US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone

A rocket was fired into the Iraqi capital’s heavilyfortified Green Zone Sunday night, landing less than a mile from the sprawlingUS Embassy, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

The apparent attack, which Iraq’s state-run news agency saiddid not cause any casualties, came amid heightened tensions across the PersianGulf, after the White House ordered warships and bombers to the region earlierthis month to counter an alleged, unexplained threat from Iran. The US also hasordered nonessential staff out of its diplomatic posts in Iraq.

   

It was the first such attack since September, when threemortar shells landed in an abandoned lot inside the Green Zone.

There was no immediate comment from the State Department orthe US Embassy in Iraq on Sunday’s attack.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack that took placeafter sunset when many Baghdad residents were indoors breaking their fastduring the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Associated Press reporters on the east side of the TigrisRiver, opposite the Green Zone, heard an explosion, after which alert sirenssounded briefly in Baghdad.

Iraqi military spokesman Brig Gen Yahya Rasoul told TheAssociated Press that a Katyusha rocket fell near the statue of the UnknownSoldier, less than a mile from the US Embassy. He said the military isinvestigating the cause but that the rocket was believed to have been firedfrom east Baghdad. The area is home to Iran-backed Shiite militias.

Shortly afterward the rocket launcher was discovered bysecurity forces in the eastern neighbourhood of Wihda, according to a securityofficial who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized tospeak to the media. The official also said the roads leading to the Green Zonewere closed briefly for security reasons before they were reopened as normal.

Iraq’s state-run news agency said a Katyusha rocket crashedinside the Green Zone without causing any casualties.

As tensions escalate between the US and Iran, there havebeen concerns that Baghdad could once again get caught in the middle , just asit is on the path to recovery. The country hosts more than 5,000 US troops, andis home to powerful Iranian-backed militias, some of whom want those US forcesto leave.

American forces withdrew from Iraq in 2011 but returned in2014 at the invitation of Iraq to help battle the Islamic State group after itseized vast areas in the north and west of the country, including Iraq’ssecond-largest city, Mosul.

A US-led coalition provided crucial air support as Iraqiforces regrouped and drove IS out in a costly three-year campaign.Iranian-backed militias fought alongside US-backed Iraqi troops against IS,gaining outsized influence and power.

Now, amid an escalating conflict between the US and Iran,Iraq is once again vulnerable to becoming caught up in the power play. Anattack targeting US interests in Iraq would be detrimental to the country’srecent efforts at recovering and reclaiming its status in the Arab world.

On May 8, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made apreviously unannounced trip to the Iraqi capital following the abruptcancellation of a visit to Germany, and told Iraqi intelligence that the UnitedStates had been picking up intelligence that Iran is threatening Americaninterests in the Middle East, although he offered no details according to twoIraqi officials.

A few days later, as US-Iranian tensions continued to rise,the State Department ordered all non-essential, non-emergency government staffto leave the country.

Employees of energy giant ExxonMobil have also begunevacuating from an oil field in the southern Iraqi province of Basra.

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