US embassy in Baghdad attacked, fire breaks out

Baghdad: Facilities inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad’s Green Zone caught fire after the embassy was attacked early Tuesday.

Two booby-trapped drones landed within the embassy perimeter and the subsequent explosions sparked a fire visible from outside the complex, a source from Iraq’s Interior Ministry told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Sirens were activated immediately across the site during the assault, while the embassy’s defence system failed to intercept the incoming drones, Xinhua news agency reported quoting the source.

There were no immediate reports about casualties and the resulting blaze indicates material damage to the facilities.

The embassy was subjected to multiple rounds of attacks from Monday evening to the early hours of Tuesday.

Footage showed a drone detonating just feet from the compound, indicating multiple penetrations of C-RAM defence systems in a single evening.

The Green Zone in central Baghdad houses Iraqi government buildings, the parliament and several foreign missions, including the US embassy. The heavily fortified zone has been a frequent target of rocket and mortar fire in recent years.

Meanwhile, two drones targeted the Majnoon oil field in southern Iraq late Monday, the oil ministry said.

Oil ministry spokesperson Saheb Bazoun said one drone struck a telecommunications tower but caused no damage. A second drone targeted offices of a US company operating at the site, a security official confirmed.

Earlier on Monday, Iraq’s paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said that six of its members were killed and four others wounded in an Israeli attack in the western province of Anbar.

According to a PMF statement, the strike targeted a checkpoint in the town of al-Qaim near the Syrian border.

The group described the location as an “official security site,” stating the casualties occurred while the members were “performing their duty of protecting the land and sovereignty.”

IANS