SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Rockets fell in the vicinity of Baghdad airport early on Wednesday, causing no casualties, Iraqi media reported.
A security source told Shafaq News that the security forces had also found a launch pad containing two rockets in the neighborhood of Jihad in Baghdad.
Meanwhile, BBC reporter Nafiseh Kohnavard said the rockets landed near Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC) located in Baghdad airport, housing U.S. diplomatic personnel and troops.
“Rockets hit on the runaway apparently,” she said in a tweet.
The BDSC is a diplomatic location and part of the U.S. embassy, according to Kohnavard.
It was the third attempted attack against U.S.-led Coalition troops in Iraq this week.
On Monday, two explosives-laden drones were shot down by the C-RAM defense system at Baghdad airport.
Footage provided by a coalition official showed what the official said was debris of two fixed-wing drones destroyed in the attack, with writing clearly visible on the wing of one drone reading “Soleimani’s revenge”.
On Tuesday, two other drones were brought down by the defense system at Ain al-Asad air base in Anbar province.
There were no casualties in the attacks.
The attacks coincided with the second anniversary of the killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Hashid al-Shaabi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Soleimani and Muhandis were killed in a drone strike near Baghdad airport ordered by then-U.S. president Donald Trump two years ago.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. Armed groups that some Iraqi officials say are backed by Iran have claimed responsibility for similar incidents in the past.
A Coalition official told Esta Media Network on Tuesday that the U.S.-led Coalition forces “no longer” had their own bases in Iraq.
The official added that the coalition forces, which has ended their combat mission in Iraq, maintain “the inherent right of self-defense”.
“These are attacks against Iraqi installations, and an attack against the Iraqi people and the military that protects them,” the official said.
“We maintain a minimal footprint on Iraqi bases–the Coalition no longer has its own bases in Iraq.”
Iraqi media cited intelligence sources as saying on Saturday that pro-Iranian militias planned to attack the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in retaliation for the drone strike that killed Soleimani and Muhandis.
Al-Arabiya channel reported that a security document of the Iraqi intelligence revealed the “existence of a plot by pro-Iranian militias to target the U.S. embassy with missiles” in retaliation of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis.
