SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr on Sunday called on the government to declare a state of emergency after a number of rockets fired towards the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
A volley of rockets exploded near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Sunday night, as tensions mount ahead of the anniversary of the U.S. killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Iraqi soil.
The Iraqi military said that an “outlaw group” fired the rockets at Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings, U.S. Embassy and other foreign missions.
The rockets hit a residential complex inside the Green Zone, damaging buildings and cars but causing no casualties, a military statement said.
“No one has the right to use weapons outside of the state,” Sadr said in a tweet on Sunday.
“The government should declare a state of emergency in Baghdad and use the army exclusively to protect civilians and diplomatic missions,” Sadr added, noting that he is prepared for security cooperation.
“Anybody who uses weapon outside the jurisdiction of the state … is either a terrorist or outside the law,” he continued.
The U.S. Embassy to Iraq confirmed that the rockets had targeted the Green Zone, resulted in the engagement of embassy defensive systems.
“There was some minor damage on the Embassy compound but no injuries or casualties,” the embassy said in a tweet, calling on the Iraqi political and government leaders to take steps to prevent such attacks and hold accountable those responsible.
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 militia groups announced in October that they had suspended rocket attacks on U.S. forces on condition that Iraq’s government present a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops.
But a rocket strike on the U.S. Embassy on Nov. 18 was also a clear sign that Iranian-backed militias had decided to resume attacks on U.S. bases, according to Iraqi security officials.
Washington, which is slowly reducing its 5,000 troops in Iraq, threatened to shut its embassy unless the Iraqi government reins in Iran-aligned militias.
