Rocket attack hits US embassy in Baghdad: NPR

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was hit by a rocket, causing minor damage to the facility.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters / Landow

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Lucas Jackson / Reuters / Landow

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad was hit by a rocket, causing minor damage to the facility.

Lucas Jackson / Reuters / Landow

US diplomatic sources say rocket attacks by “Iranian-backed militants” on an area of ​​the US embassy in Iraq have killed at least one local citizen and damaged the embassy premises.

Foreign Secretary Michael Pompeo said eight small rockets fired by Iranian forces targeted the international zone, particularly in Baghdad, also known as the “Green Zone”. In a statement released Sunday, he strongly condemned the attack.

None of the embassy staff were injured, but Pompeo said the rocket damaged some residential property around the Green Zone.

It also caused minor damage to the US embassy. The embassy said the missile defense system of the attack diversion facility had been activated.

The attack comes a year after the January 3 airstrikes in Baghdad marked the one-year anniversary of the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Cossem Sholaymani. Media reports Mark The United States withdrew its staff from the Baghdad embassy earlier this year.

Pompeo called the Iranian-backed militants “the most serious obstacle to helping Iraq return to peace and prosperity.”

The U.S. embassy in Baghdad confirmed in a statement that the attacks on diplomatic facilities were “in violation of international law.” The embassy called it an “attack on the sovereignty of the Iraqi government.”

“I urge all Iraqi political and government leaders to take action to prevent such attacks.