MESOPOTAMIA NEWS LATEST BAGHDAD : Rocket lands near U.S. embassy in Baghdad as Soleimani funeral kicks off
No casualties were reported, according to Iraqi police. Other reports claim that three people were injured.
By LEON SVERDLOV JANUARY 4, 2020 20:52 JERUSALEM POST
A siren sounded in the US embassy in Baghdad following a reported rocket attack on Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone which houses government buildings and foreign missions, Reuters reported Saturday evening. Two loud blasts were heard early Saturday evening shortly after IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani’s funeral kicked off, after having been assassinated during a US airstrike in Baghdad International Airport.
It was not immediately possible to confirm the causes or locations.
Early reports claim that the siren was sounded due to a katyusha rocket impact inside the Green Zone’s Celebrations Square, near the US embassy. According to Iraqi military, several rockets landed inside the Green Zone.
According to Reuters, two katyusha rockets fell inside the Iraqi Balad air base housing US soldiers. Other reports by Arab media claim four rockets landed in the base.
No casualties were initially reported in the attack on the embassy, according to Iraqi police. Other reports claim that three people were injured.
No deaths were reported in the Balad air base as of yet.
Five people were wounded in a separate mortar attack in Jadriya, Baghdad, according to Iraqi police.
“Several rockets targeting Celebration Square and the Jadriya area in Baghdad, and the Balad air base in Salahuddin province, with no loss of life. Further details to come,” the Iraqi military said in a statement.
According to Lebanese news channel al-Mayadeen, Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah Brigades warned the Iraqi security forces to be at least 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) away from all American bases starting Sunday evening.
“Security forces must stay clear of American bases by a distance not less and a thousand meters starting Sunday evening,” al-Mayadeen quoted the militia as saying.
Another explosion was reported Saturday evening near al-Kindi camp in northern Mosul by Saudi news channel Al Arabiya, as well as other Arab media sources.