Rocket fired into Iraqi capital's 'Green Zone'

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – A rocket was fired into the Iraqi capital Baghdad’s heavilyfortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, on Sunday but caused no casualties, the Iraqi military said.

“A Katyusha rocket fell in the middle of the Green Zone without causing any losses,” the military said in a statement, adding it landed near the Monument of the Unknown Soldier.

The monument lies in open ground about half a kilometer (a third of a mile) north of the sprawling, riverside US embassy compound. The blast was heard across central Baghdad, according to Reuters witnesses and residents.

A US State Department official confirmed a “low-grade” rocket landed in the Green Zone near the embassy, but said there were no casualties or significant damage.

The embassy in Baghdad and US consulate in the Iraqi Kurdish regional capital Erbil evacuated non-emergency staff this week, out of apparent concern about perceived threats from Iraq’s neighbor, Iran.

The US State Department official noted that there had so far been no claim of responsibility, and that no US-inhabited facility was impacted.

“But, we take this incident very seriously,” the State Department official said. “We will hold Iran responsible if any such attacks are conducted by its proxy militia forces or elements of such forces, and will respond to Iran accordingly.”

One US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States was considering sending a small number of additional personnel to protect the embassy. The official said talks on this had been going on prior to the rocket incident and stressed that the number of additional personnel would be low.

President Donald Trump’s administration has said it sent additional forces to the region to counter what it called credible threats from Iran against US interests, including from militias it supports in Iraq.

Tehran has described US moves as “psychological warfare” and a “political game.”

Both Iran and the United States have said they do not want war.

Hours after the blast in Baghdad, Trump wrote on Twitter: “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!”

The Katyusha multiple rocket launcher is an inexpensive type of rocket artillery that can deliver explosives to a target quicker than conventional artillery, but is less accurate.

After the blast, Iraqi police special forces found a rocket launcher in eastern Baghdad’s al-Sina district, about 7 km (4.3 miles) away across the Tigris River from the Green Zone, and sealed off the area, a police source told Reuters.

Officers were searching for suspects and an ordinance disposal team from the Baghdad Operations Command was inspecting the launcher, the source said.

The Green Zone was regularly targeted by mortars during the US occupation of Iraq that ended in 2011.