Retaliatory attacks on the US Embassy and Iran-backed group bases in Baghdad leave 4 dead

At least four people have been killed in retaliatory drone and airstrikes in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. The attacks were carried out early Tuesday morning targeting the US Embassy and bases of Iran-backed armed groups. Qatar-based news outlet Al Jazeera reported this citing eyewitnesses and security sources.

According to the report, several drone attacks were launched on the US Embassy compound located in Baghdad’s highly secured Green Zone area. The embassy’s defense system was able to shoot down at least two drones, but one drone directly struck inside the compound. Fire and smoke were seen rising from the site. However, no immediate comment was received from the US Embassy regarding the incident.

Shortly afterward, an airstrike targeted a building in Baghdad’s Jadriya district that was being used as the headquarters of the Iran-backed armed group Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). At least four people were killed in that attack. French news agency AFP reported that Iranian advisers were present in the building.

The conflict has spread onto Iraqi soil amid ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel-United States. Earlier on Monday night, a drone struck the Al-Rashid Hotel located in the Green Zone. Al Jazeera correspondent Mahmoud Abdel Wahed said the explosive-laden drone hit the hotel’s roof but caused no casualties. Officials from various foreign diplomatic missions, including the European Union and Saudi Arabia, stay at the hotel.

The Iraqi army claimed that these drone attacks were carried out in retaliation for a US strike on a PMF checkpoint in the Al-Qaim area near the Syrian border, which killed eight soldiers. The army condemned the attacks.

Meanwhile, Kataeb Hezbollah, one of the largest groups within Iraq’s PMF, confirmed the death of its senior commander Abu Ali al-Askari. However, no details were provided about the exact cause or timing of his death.

The violence has also affected Iraq’s oil sector. On Monday, two drones struck the Majnoon oil field in the southern Basra province. Additionally, Iraq’s oil industry is being severely impacted by Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz. To ease the situation, Iraq’s oil minister Hayan Abdul-Ghani said that the oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Turkey will resume operation within a week, allowing suspended oil exports to restart.