BAGHDAD: At least nine rockets targeted Iraq’s parliament inside the heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday ahead of a much-anticipated session to resolve a political crisis, Iraq’s military said.
The rocket attack delayed the parliament session scheduled to take place to elect a president, a key step toward resolving Iraq’s stalled government formation one year since federal elections were held. The session is still scheduled to take place later on Thursday.
At least five people were wounded in the attack — three were civilians and two were military personnel — the officials said without giving more details. The culprits were not immediately known.
The attacks, which appeared to be an attempt to derail the scheduled session, struck after the Coordination Framework, an alliance made up of mostly Iran-backed Shiite parties, submitted a formal letter claiming to be the largest bloc in Parliament. The alliance named Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani as their nominee for the premiership, a key legal step before the next government can be formed.
Many feared protests by the followers of influential Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, a political opponent of the Framework, ahead of the session. His supporters stormed the parliament on June 30 and stalled the government formation process when Al-Sudani was first named nominee by the Framework.
Al-Sadr’s party won the largest number of seats in the October 2021 federal election, but he ordered his lawmakers to resign after failing to secure a quorum to vote in a government that would exclude his Iran-backed allies.
Under Iraqi law, before lawmakers can vote on the nominee for the premiership, they must elect a president.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
It was not the first time rocket attacks have targeted the parliament building as lawmakers prepared to attend a session.
On Sept. 28, three rockets targeted the Green Zone as a session was convened to renew confidence in parliament speaker Mohammed Al-Halbousi.
Iraqi military says 9 rockets target Green Zone amid crisis
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Iraqi military says 9 rockets target Green Zone amid crisis
- At least five people were wounded in the attack — three were civilians and two were military personnel
Berlin says plans to host Sudan aid conference
- The conference would be held around the anniversary of the2023 outbreak of the civil war in April
- Previous Sudan aid conferences were held in Paris in 2024 and London in 2025
BERLIN: Germany plans to host a Sudan aid conference in the spring to raise emergency relief funds for the war-torn country, the foreign ministry said on Friday.
Brutal fighting between Sudanese government forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has devastated the country, with reports of atrocities, starvation and mass killings.
“Today, the world commemorates a sad date: 1,000 days of war in Sudan,” a foreign ministry spokeswoman said. “Far too many people continue to suffer and die there, victims of hunger, thirst, displacement and rape.”
The conference would be held around the anniversary of the 2023 outbreak of the civil war in April, the spokeswoman said.
Previous Sudan aid conferences were held in Paris in 2024 and London in 2025.
“The world’s largest humanitarian crisis has already driven millions of civilians into poverty and many tens of thousands to their deaths,” the spokeswoman said.
“Germany is doing everything in its power, both politically and in humanitarian terms, to help the people on the ground and to end the fighting.”
International calls for a ceasefire have so far failed to halt the fighting between Sudan’s army-aligned government and the RSF, which is descended from the Janjaweed militias accused of genocide in Darfur two decades ago.
Both sides have faced war crimes accusations over the course of the conflict.
