IRAQ LINKS SECURITY SERVICES TO US EMBASSY ASSAULT
▶ Rockets were fired at heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad
People connected to the security services have been identified among those responsible for the assault on the US embassy in Baghdad, the Iraqi government has said.
Rockets and mortar bombs landed inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, the site of government offices and foreign missions, including the US embassy, at dawn last Friday.
Some hit the embassy compound, while several others struck the nearby headquarters of the Iraqi National Security Service, security officials said. No casualties were reported.
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, condemned the attacks and ordered an investigation.
“After intensive technical and intelligence efforts, our security forces have identified the perpetrators,” said Maj Gen Yahya Rasool, military representative for the Prime Minister.
“Unfortunately, the initial information indicated that some of them are affiliated to some security agencies,” he said, without elaborating.
Security forces arrested “some of them and efforts are under way to reach all those involved in this assault and justice will be served in accordance with the law”, he said.
An escalation in tensions between Shiite militias, backed by Iran, and US forces began after the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on October 7.
Some of the militias are part of a state-linked paramilitary organisation, the Popular Mobilisation Forces.
Maj Gen Rasool repeated the government’s condemnation of the attack.
“Staying silent and overlooking such attacks is not permissible as they pose a serious threat to the country’s security and stability,” he said.
“They harm Iraq’s reputation and dignity and cast doubt on its credibility as a sovereign state capable of fulfilling its international obligations in ensuring the safety of its citizens and residents, especially the diplomatic missions.”
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
However, previous attacks against US forces have been carried out by Iran-aligned militias operating under the banner of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a call to Mr Al Sudani, accused Iran-aligned armed groups Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba of carrying out the attacks.
Some of the militias are part of a state-linked paramilitary organisation, the Popular Mobilisation Forces
“The United States reserves the right to respond decisively against those groups,” Mr Austin said.
The escalation between Iran-backed Shiite militants and US forces is due to Washington’s support of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, putting the government in Baghdad in a difficult position.
Since then, the Pentagon says, US forces in Iraq and Syria as part of the global anti-ISIS coalition have been attacked at least 84 times.
The US has responded with several strikes that have killed at least 15 militants in Iraq and about seven in Syria.