Daily attacks on US targets in Iraq – Three rockets at the embassy

Three rockets were fired in the early hours of today against the embassy of USA in Baghdad, after a 24-hour period marked by one of the largest series of attacks against American interests in its territory Iraq and an attempted UAV attack prevented in neighboring Syria.

The attacks, which are rarely claimed but welcomed by pro-Iranian Iraqi factions, appeared to have been coordinated and took place eight days after US airstrikes in Syria and Iraq against Hasid al-Saabi al-Qaeda-linked al-Qaeda-linked al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab insurgents. , an umbrella of various pro-Iranian paramilitary organizations, which is now formally part of the regular army.

At least ten of its members were killed in the US-led invasion, and Hasd vowed to avenge them.

Three rockets landed near the US embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday night, the Iraqi army said.

Arrays of C-RAM anti-aircraft defense systems installed by the Americans to protect their military and diplomatic personnel were activated overnight, French Agency journalists found. The Iraqi army confirmed that rockets had not hit the embassy itself but points near it in the heavily guarded Green Zone.

Sources close to the Iraqi security forces told the Reuters news agency that the Americans intercepted one of the rockets, but a second one fell inside the perimeter of the embassy.

The attacks continue

A car bomb had exploded at an Iraqi police recruiting center at Kisak, west of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people. The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a U.S. military base in western Iraq.

No less than fourteen rockets “hit the base and its perimeter. “Defense systems have been activated,” said Col. Wayne Marotto, a spokesman for the anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq.

Two U.S. servicemen were slightly injured in the attack, he said.

Shortly afterwards, Syrian Kurdish forces spearheaded in the war against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group said they had prevented a drone strike against a large US-led coalition base in the United States. part of Syria, in the Al Omar oil field.

‘Revenge Brigades take responsibility for al-Muhaddith’s death’

The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a crowd of protesters, claiming responsibility for the attack on al-Muhaddithin’s death. He promised to “force the Americans to leave Iraq.”

The group, previously unknown, used the name of Abu Mahdi al-Muhaddis, the former second-in-command of Hasd, who was killed along with the powerful Iranian general Qassem Suleimani in the US-led invasion of Baghdad in January 2020. Trump.

Several factions of Hashd “have been ordered to escalate attacks on Americans in Iraq,” a source close to the alliance, which has become a force no one can bypass in Iraq, recently told AFP. The country has become a battleground between its two main allies, the United States and Iran.

According to the same source, Iranian General Ismail Kani, Suleimani’s successor, went to Baghdad earlier this month to meet with officials close to Tehran, including leaders of paramilitary groups.

Since the beginning of 2021, there have been some 50 attacks on US interests in Iraq, where 2,500 US troops remain deployed as part of the international coalition formed against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist organization. These actions have escalated in recent days.

Ein al-Assad was attacked with three rockets on Monday and a few hours later the US embassy was threatened by a UAV, which shot down an array of C-RAM system.

A car bomb had exploded at an Iraqi police recruiting center at Kisak, north of Baghdad, killing at least 12 people. The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of an Iraqi police recruiting center at Kisak, north of Baghdad.

For Iraqi analyst Ali Bender, the attacks are, above all, “demonstrations of power,” but “have no bearing on the US presence in Iraq.”

Attacks by UAVs trapped in explosives, a technique that began to be used in mid-April in Iraq, have turned into a headache for the coalition as they may escape C-RAM systems.

An indication of US concern about UAV attacks: they recently offered a reward of up to $ 3 million for information leading to an investigation into attacks on their interests in Iraq.

A State Department spokesman said last night that the attacks were “representative of the threat posed by pro-Iranian paramilitary groups to Iraq’s national sovereignty and stability.”

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