Katyusha rockets target US embassy in Baghdad, security sources say

March 7 (Reuters) - Katyusha rockets targeted the U.S. embassy in Baghdad on Saturday ​and sirens sounded, security sources and witnesses said, though ‌it was not immediately clear whether the rockets caused any damage or casualties.

The attack was the first time the embassy had been fired ​on in more than two years. The last ​recorded strike was in late 2023, when around seven ⁠mortar rounds landed in the compound amid a wave ​of attacks by Iran‑aligned militias on U.S. assets in Iraq ​and Syria over Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

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Explosions were heard near the embassy in central Baghdad around ​9 p.m. (1800 GMT), and sirens warning people to take cover ​sounded, witnesses said.

A senior Iraqi security official told Reuters the C‑RAM defence ‌system ⁠brought down one of the rockets and that none landed inside the embassy. The official said there were no American casualties.

The attack indicates that Iran‑aligned Iraqi militias — who have ​vowed to retaliate ​for the ⁠killing of Iran’s supreme leader — have widened their targets beyond U.S. military bases in Iraqi ​Kurdistan and U.S. energy interests to now include ​the ⁠U.S. Embassy.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al‑Sudani ordered security forces to track down those who launched the projectiles, calling them “rogue groups ⁠operating ​outside the law that do not ​represent the will of the Iraqi people,” a statement from his office said.

Reporting ​by Ahmed Rasheed, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Diane Craft

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