At least one rocket hit a dining facility or cafeteria at the site. Sirens sounded in the compound directing people to seek shelter.
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN JANUARY 27, 2020 01:54
Three rockets struck the US embassy compound in Baghdad on Sunday evening. At least one made a direct hit on a dining facility or cafeteria at the site. Sirens sounded in the embassy compound directing people to seek shelter.According to Iraqi sources, at least one person was injured in the attack, Israeli media source Walla News reported Sunday night.Read More Related Articles
It is the latest attack on the US embassy in Baghdad after weeks of rocket attacks near the embassy and a mass protest in late December.
AFP reported that an attack last Monday even ended with a rocket landing near the deputy-ambassador’s residence. The US has evacuated most diplomatic personnel from the embassy since tensions rose with Iran in May 2019.
The US killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis on January 3. Prior to that Muhandis was alleged to have ordered a dozen rocket attacks on bases housing US forces in Iraq, including a December 27 attack that killed a US contractor near Kirkuk.The US retaliated on December 29, bombing five Kataib Hezbollah sites.
Previous rocket attacks occurred near the US embassy on January 8, January 5, October 31, 2019 and also in September and May 2019.
In 2005 a rocket hit the US embassy killing two Americans and wounding five people. The US embassy compound in Baghdad is a massive 104 acres, almost a large as Vatican City and cost almost 1 billion dollars to build. It sits along the Tigris river dwarfing other compounds nearby. It has its own numerous layers of local and professional security.
Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.