Rockets fired at Baghdad's Green Zone, US-led coalition military base reported hit
16 Feb, 2020 00:51 / Updated 41 minutes ago
The area near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, reportedly came under rocket fire, and several blasts have been heard at the Green Zone, hosting diplomatic compounds and the US-led coalition base.
The explosions reportedly rocked the US-led coalition military base in the city, located just outside the embassy, Reuters reported, citing a US military source.
Union III, the coalition base which sits across the street from the diplomatic compound, reportedly was the exact target of the rocket fire.
Correction: Union 3 base is across the street to the #US embassy and not inside it.
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Early reports indicated that at least four blasts struck the area, prompting rocket alarms to be activated.
Multiple videos have been circulated online with air raid sirens blaring in the Iraqi capital early Sunday morning local time.
“Sirens went on and Jets are flying over the area,” Mustafa Salim, Baghdad-based reporter for the Washington Post, tweeted.
A smoke column is seen in Zayouna area, #Baghdad. No explosions reported in the periphery of the US embassy in Baghdad according to residents there.
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Footage has also emerged online purportedly showing a black pillar of smoke billowing from the neighborhood of Zayouna in eastern Baghdad in wake of the reports that several missiles targeted the Green Zone area.
There have been unconfirmed reports that the smoke was rising near the HQ of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state-sponsored umbrella group of over 40 militias.
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It’s unclear if the PMF offices have been hit.
The reported attack comes amid heightened tensions in the region, that were exacerbated by a recent flare-up between Iran and the US. The showdown that saw Washington assassinating a top Iranian general in a drone strike on January 3 was preceded by an attack that killed a US contractor at K-1 base hosting US troops outside Iraq’s Kirkuk on December 27.
The US pinned the blame for the attack on Kataib Hezbollah, and bombed out the group’s positions killing at least 25 fighters. Militia members and locals then organized a siege of the US embassy in Baghdad, setting checkpoints on fire in an attempt to break into the heavily fortified compound.
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The killing of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, which the White House now says was the retaliation for "an escalating series of attacks in preceding months," also drove a wedge between Baghdad and Washington, with Iraqi lawmakers subsequently voting to kick out the US troops out of the country.
While the Iraqi government has yet to follow through the threat, the US-led NATO has vowed to expand its training operations in Iraq, that were brought to a halt following the Soleimani’s assassination.
posted by Satish Sharma at
08:53
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