US embassy in Baghdad hit by multiple rockets

Multiple rockets hit near the US embassy in Iraq’s capital early Sunday, an American military source said, the latest in a flurry of attacks against US assets in the country.

It was the 19th attack since October to target either the embassy or the roughly 5,200 US troops stationed alongside local forces across Iraq.

The attacks are never claimed but the US has pointed the finger at Iran-backed groups within the Hashed al-Shaabi, a military network officially incorporated into Iraq’s state security force.

According to Colonel Myles B Caggins III, a spokesman for the US military operation in Iraq, the attack – which took place just before 3:30am (00:30 GMT) – caused no casualties and only minor damage.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Iraq’s military said three Katyusha rockets landed inside the Green Zone, while a fourth hit a different neighbourhood, striking a logistics base operated by the Hashd al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces, a military network officially incorporated into the Iraqi state. 

Via France 24 / Al Jazeera