Two rockets crashed late Wednesday into the Green Zone of the Iraqi capital, the high-security enclave that is home to foreign embassies including the US mission, security sources told AFP.
AFP correspondents in Baghdad heard two loud blasts just before midnight, followed by the Green Zone’s wailing warning sirens.
The two rockets attack came about 24 hours after ballistic missiles were fired by Tehran at Iraqi bases hosting American and other coalition forces, but did not result in casualties. The attacks were in retaliation last week for a U.S. drone strike that killed senior Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Muhandis was the Hashed al-Shaabi’s deputy head. A web of armed groups incorporated into the Iraqi state but also closely linked to Tehran. The U.S. had accused Hashed organizations of being behind a series of rocket attacks on the Baghdad. U.S. embassy and bases housing U.S. troops across the country. The hardline elements of the Hashed on Wednesday. It promise that they would also take revenge on the U.S. raid.
Paramilitary leader Qais al-Khazali blacklisted by the US as a “criminal”. Iraq’s response to the US “will be no less than the scale of the Iranian response.”
Harakat al-Nujaba, a Hashed hardline group, threatened to venge Muhandis.
“To American soldiers: Do not close your eyes. Revenge for the martyr Muhandis is coming at the hands of Iraqis. This is until the last soldier among you leaves,” it said.
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