3 rockets fired near US embassy in Baghdad, no casualties reported

Three rockets on Sunday hit Baghdad near the United States Embassy zone. The exact location of the blast is the neighbourhood near the high-security Green Zone where the US embassy is located, AFP reported quoting Iraqi security official. No casualties have been reported so far.

“Three Katyusha rockets fell in the Mansur district of Baghdad,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

According to AFP sources, the rockets struck near a Red Crescent hospital, a bank, and the district’s water management department, the source added.

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The attack, which is the first to target the Green Zone since July, comes authorities decided to recount the votes cast in the parliamentary election held in early October.

The primary projections of the elections showed the Conquest Alliance, the political arm of the Hashed al-Shaabi network of pro-Iranian militias, losing ground in the election.

Hashed leaders have vehemently contested the results and several hundred of their supporters staged a sit-in on an avenue leading to the Green Zone this month in protest, AFP reported.

The network vehemently opposes the presence of the United States in the region. The leaders of the network have also often supported and praised the rocket and drone attacks in recent months that have targeted Iraqi military bases housing US troops, without claiming responsibility.

As per AFP, some 2,500 US troops are still deployed in Iraq. They will officially limit themselves to an “advisory” role to the Iraqi security forces from 2022.

In July this year, at least two rockets hit Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone. One rocket landed in a parking lot inside the Green Zone and a second one hit a nearby empty area.