SULAIMANI (ESTA) — The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said on Wednesday that militias backed by Iranian Quds Force continued to destabilize Iraq, one day after several rockets fell inside Baghdad’s Green Zone.
“The United States Government strongly condemns the rocket attack in Baghdad yesterday which killed an Iraqi child and injured other Iraqi civilians,” the U.S. embassy to Iraq said in a tweet.
“Lawless militias supported by Iran’s Qods Force continue to destabilize Iraq, kill Iraqi citizens, and threaten Iraq’s sovereignty,” the embassy tweeted.
It called on the Iraqi government to arrest and hold accountable those who continue to perpetrate acts of violence against the Iraqi state.
On Tuesday, Seven Katyusha rockets were fired toward Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign missions.
Iraqi Security Media Cell said in a statement late on Tuesday that four rockets fell inside the Green Zone and three outside, killing a child and wounding five others.
Three rockets landed outside the Green Zone, one hitting close to Baghdad Medical City Hospital, one at the gate of a public park, and a third exploded in the air, according to the Iraqi military.
Iraqi security sources told AP that one of the rockets struck close to Iraq’s National Security Service, just 600 meters from the U.S. embassy. They said that some of the rockets were intercepted by the C-RAM air defense system installed by the U.S. earlier this year.
U.S. officials blame Iran-backed militia for regular rocket attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq, including near the embassy in Baghdad. No known Iran-backed groups have claimed responsibility.
An array of Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups announced in October that they have suspended rocket attacks on U.S. forces on condition that Iraq’s government present a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops.
