BAGHDAD: Rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone, home to the US embassy, on Thursday, the fifth such attack in 10 days, security sources inside the high-security district told AFP.
AFP journalists heard at least three explosions, followed by the sound of sirens in the Green Zone.
There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.
Like previous attacks, there was no claim of responsibility.
Since October, at least 32 attacks have targeted American interests in Iraq that the US has blamed on Iran-backed factions among Iraq’s security forces.
It was the second rocket attack near the US embassy since June 8 while other attacks have targeted Baghdad airport, where US troops are stationed, and a base north of the capital.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran reached boiling point in January when the US killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis in a drone strike in Baghdad.
Since then, Iraq has a new, US-friendly prime minister and there had been a lull in rocket attacks in recent months.
The resumption of attacks after weeks of calm coincides with the launch on June 11 of a strategic dialogue between Washington and Baghdad that aims to better define their military, economic and cultural relationship, although experts do not expect great results.
As part of the talks, Washington has already pledged to continue reducing in-country troop levels, which numbered about 5,200 last year.
In response to the US drone attack, Baghdad’s parliament voted to expel all foreign soldiers from Iraqi territory, but the decision was never implemented.
Rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone
https://arab.news/b6prs
Rockets hit Baghdad’s Green Zone
- Like previous attacks, there was no claim of responsibility
- There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage
Syria ministry says gunman who killed Americans was to be fired from security forces for ‘extremism’
Syria ministry says gunman who killed Americans was to be fired from security forces for ‘extremism’
- Syrian authorities “had decided to fire him” from the security forces before the attack for holding “extremist Islamist ideas” and had planned to do so on Sunday
DAMASCUS: Syria’s interior ministry said on Sunday that the gunman who killed three Americans in the central Palmyra region the previous day was a member of the security forces who was to have been fired for extremism.
Two US troops and a civilian interpreter died in the attack on Saturday, which the US Central Command said had been carried out by an alleged Daesh group (IS) militant who was then killed.
The Syrian authorities “had decided to fire him” from the security forces before the attack for holding “extremist Islamist ideas” and had planned to do so on Sunday, interior ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba told state television.
A Syrian security official told AFP on Sunday that “11 members of the general security forces were arrested and brought in for questioning after the attack.”
The official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the gunman had belonged to the security forces “for more than 10 months and was posted to several cities before being transferred to Palmyra.”
Palmyra, home to UNESCO-listed ancient ruins, was once controlled by Daesh during the height of its territorial expansion in Syria.
The incident is the first of its kind reported since Islamist-led forces overthrew longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and rekindled the country’s ties with the United States.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the soldiers “were conducting a key leader engagement” in support of counter-terrorism operations when the attack occurred, while US envoy to Syria Tom Barrack said the ambush targeted “a joint US-Syrian government patrol.”
US President Donald Trump called the incident “a Daesh attack against the US, and Syria, in a very dangerous part of Syria, that is not fully controlled by them,” using another term for the group.
He said the three other US troops injured in the attack were “doing well.”
