SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Two rockets were fired near the U.S. embassy in Iraq’s capital city, Baghdad, AFP cited a security source as saying.
The Iraqi authorities and the U.S. embassy have yet to confirm the attack.
One rocket landed in a parking lot inside the Green Zone and a second one hit a nearby empty area, security sources told Reuters.
The Green Zone hosts foreign embassies and government buildings and is regularly the target of rockets fired by groups that U.S. and Iraqi officials say are backed by Iran.
The dawn attack came as Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was flying home from Washington after White House talks in which President Joe Biden announced an end to U.S. combat operations in Iraq.
There are currently 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq focusing on countering the remnants of Islamic State (ISIS). The U.S. role in Iraq will shift entirely to training and advising the Iraqi military to defend itself.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday that the United States was maintaining a presence in Iraq with a “different mission, in coordination with the Iraqi leadership, one where we feel we can continue to be quite constructive in fighting ISIS and fighting the dangerous threats from Iranian proxies.”
“This is a shift in mission; it is not a removal of our partnership or our presence or our close engagement with Iraqi leaders,” she added.
