Rockets strike inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, security forces say
The Iraqi military said on Sunday two rockets struck Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, with one missile landing near a national monument.
One of the Katyusha rockets was destroyed by the military’s Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar (C-RAM) system, Al Jazeera reported, while another landed near a national monument and damaged two cars. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet and an investigation into the launch site is ongoing.
No casualties have been reported so far.
Several western embassies are located in the Green Zone, including the U.S. Embassy, making it a frequent target by forces that the U.S. and Iraq claim are backed by Iran.
Speaking to Reuters, a U.S. military official said none of the rockets landed on the U.S. Embassy and no American casualties were reported.
The attack comes just weeks after the U.S. ended its combat mission against ISIS in Iraq. As of Dec. 9, there are roughly 2,500 U.S. service members remaining in Iraq in a training and advisory role. U.S. forces had been in Iraq since 2014 to combat ISIS, which had taken large swaths of both Iraq and Syria.
Al Jazeera noted that the latest attack also closely coincides with the 10-year anniversary of the departure of U.S. troops from Iraq on Dec. 18, 2011, after forces invaded and overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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