Explosions rock Baghdad as security sources say US embassy attacked

Baghdad: The US embassy in Baghdad was hit by an attack on Saturday following strikes that killed two members of a powerful Iran-backed group in the capital, security sources said.

Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, was quickly dragged into the Middle East war triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

A cloud of black smoke rose above the US diplomatic mission shortly after the sound of explosions on Saturday morning, an AFP journalist said.

Two security officials told AFP the embassy complex was struck in the attack, though the exact cause was not clear. One security source said a drone had hit the embassy, while another said a projectile, believed to be a rocket had fallen on the diplomatic complex.

Two security officials told AFP the embassy complex was struck in the attack, though the exact cause was not clear. One security source said a drone had hit the embassy, while another said projectile, believed to be a rocket had fallen near the embassy’s airbase.

The US embassy did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment on the incident.

It is the second time the US embassy has come under attack in Baghdad since the start of the war.

Several Tehran-backed armed groups, which Washington has designated as “terrorist organisations”, allied under an umbrella movement known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have claimed daily drone and rocket attacks against US bases in the region.

Since the start of the war, several attacks targeting members of those groups across Iraq have been blamed on the US and Israel.

Saturday’s attack took place shortly after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah and killed kill two of its members, including a “key figure”, according to security sources.

AFP journalists heard blasts in the capital followed by ambulance sirens, with witnesses saying they saw smoke rising from the Arasat neighbourhood, where several Iran-backed groups have a presence.

“At 02:15 am (2315 GMT Friday), a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah,” said a security source, adding that “a key figure was martyred,” and two members of the group were wounded.

Two hours later, an airstrike hit a vehicle in eastern Baghdad that killed “a member of the Hashed al-Shaabi,” another security source said.

A Hashed al-Shaabi official told AFP that the person who had been killed belonged to Kataeb Hezbollah.

The Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), is a former paramilitary group now integrated into the regular armed forces.

It also encompasses brigades from Iran-backed groups, including Kataeb Hezbollah.

None of the sources said who was believed to be behind the strikes, and the Kataeb Hezbollah group has not commented.