3 rockets hit US em3 rockets hit US embassy in Baghdad as protests against Iraq govt continuebassy in Baghdad as protests against Iraq govt continue

Attack marks dangerous escalation in spree of rocket attacks that have targeted the embassy or Iraqi military bases where American troops are deployed.

Three rockets hit the US embassy in Iraq’s capital on Sunday in the first direct hit reported after months of close calls, as thousands of protesters kept up anti-government sit-ins across the country.

The attack marked a dangerous escalation in the spree of rocket attacks in recent months that have targeted the embassy or Iraqi military bases where American troops are deployed. None of the attacks has been claimed but Washington has repeatedly blamed Iran-backed military factions in Iraq. On Sunday, one rocket hit an embassy cafeteria at dinner time while two others landed nearby, a security source told AFP. A senior Iraqi official told AFP at least one person was wounded, but it was not immediately clear how serious the injuries were and whether the person was an American national or an Iraqi staff member working at the mission. The US embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The US State Department called on Iraq late Sunday to “fulfil its obligations to protect our diplomatic facilities”. The attack took place earlier in the day than usual, with AFP reporters hearing the booms on the western bank of the river Tigris at precisely 7:30 pm (1630 GMT, 2200 IST). Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi and Speaker of Parliament Mohammed Halbusi both condemned the incident, saying it risked dragging their homeland into war…Keep Reading

Trump ordered killing of top Iranian military commander: Pentagon

The death of Qasem Soleimani, who led the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds force, heightened fears of an armed conflict between the U.S. and Iran that could easily pull in other countries.

US President Donald Trump ordered the killing of Iran Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani, who died in Baghdad “in a decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad,” the Pentagon said.

“General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region. General Qasem Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and the wounding of thousands more,” the Department of Defence said.

Following Soleimani’s death, Trump tweeted an image of the US flag without any further explanation. The strike, which occurred at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday in Iraq, also killed the deputy chief of Iraq’s powerful Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force. A pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy following deadly American air strikes on a hardline Hashed faction.\

The US had called the strikes in response to a rocket attack days earlier that had killed an American contractor working in Iraq. The Baghdad airport was hit in a volley of missiles just after midnight Friday, Iraq’s military had announced

Iran’s celebrity, West’s terrorist: Who was General Qasem Soleimani

Soleimani was the key planner of Iran’s local impact, driving the battle against jihadist powers and broadening Iran’s conciliatory heave in Iraq, Syria and past

Progressive Guards administrator Qasem Soleimani, who was killed Friday in a US strike, was one of the most well known figures in Iran and seen as a lethal enemy by America and its partners. General Soleimani, who headed the outer tasks Quds Force for the Guards, had employed his local clout openly since 2018 when it was uncovered that he had direct association in top-level talks over the arrangement of Iraq’s administration.

It was nothing unexpected at the ideal opportunity for a man who has been at the focal point of intensity broking in the district for two decades. Qasem Soleimani has been in and out of Baghdad from that point forward, most as of late a month ago as gatherings looked to shape another administration. Where once he kept to the shadows, Soleimani has lately become an improbable big name in Iran – packed with an immense after on Instagram.

His profile rose abruptly when he was pushed forward as the general population face of Iran’s mediation in the Syrian clash from 2013, showing up in combat zone photographs, narratives – and in any event, being highlighted in a music video and vivified film. In an uncommon meeting disclosed on Iranian state TV in October, he said he was in Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war to regulate the contention…