Several rockets fall near the American Embassy in Baghdad

BAGHDAD | Several rockets fell, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, near the American embassy located in the ultra-secure Green Zone of Baghdad, an American military source told TEH.TEH journalists heard strong explosions in central Baghdad, followed by an aerial flight over the area, while sirens sounded in the Green Zone, according to the American military source. This is the 19^th attack against American interests in Iraq in nearly four months. The explosions triggered the American Embassy’s alarm sirens, a diplomatic source said. They were followed by an aerial survey of the area. No material damage or casualties were reported in the early hours of Sunday.

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Rocket attacks on US soldiers, diplomats, and facilities in Iraq have escalated since late October. They killed an American subcontractor and an Iraqi soldier.None of the 19 attacks recorded since October 28 have been claimed, but Washington accuses the pro-Iranian armed factions of being behind these hostilities. Tensions between Washington and Tehran, both Baghdad allies, escalated at the end of 2019 on Iraqi soil, leading to the assassination in Baghdad of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on the orders of US President Donald Trump. The Iranians retaliated with a shower of missiles at an Iraqi base where American soldiers are stationed, wounding a hundred. The pro-Iranian Iraqi armed factions, which lost their de facto leader in the raid against Soleimani, Abu Mehdi al-Mouhandis, have also since promised “revenge” against the United States. The Iraqi parliament – where these factions hold the second block of deputies – has already called for the expulsion of 5,200 American soldiers from the country. And factions regularly threaten these troops. One of Iraq’s most radical pro-Iran factions, Noujaba, said on Twitter on Saturday that they “decided to start the countdown to (Iraq’s) sovereignty and the response to the US occupation forces.”.“We are closer than you imagine,” the group again threatened, above the photo of an American armored vehicle.