No reports of casualties in attacks; Washington is bracing for Iranian retaliation after it vowed to avenge death of Qassem Soleimani
AgenciesTOI staffToday, 7:44 pm
Two rockets hit Iraq’s Al-Balad air base Saturday, where US troops are stationed, while two mortars hit Baghdad’s Green Zone, a high-security enclave housing the US embassy, security sources said.
Sirens immediately rang out at the American compound in Baghdad hosting both diplomats and troops, sources there told AFP.
The Al-Balad base, north of Baghdad, was hit by Katyusha rockets, security sources said.
The US has feared a backlash against its mission and bases where its troops are deployed across Iraq following the precision drone strike that killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani on Friday.
There were no reports of casualties in either attack.
Earlier thousands of militiamen and other supporters chanting “America is the Great Satan” marched in a funeral procession in Baghdad for Gen. Qassem Soleimani, as the region braced for the Islamic Republic to fulfill its vows of revenge.
Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, was killed early Friday near the Baghdad international airport along with senior Iraqi militants in an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump. The attack has caused regional tensions to soar and tested the US alliance with Iraq.
Iran has vowed harsh retaliation, raising fears of an all-out war, All eyes were on Iraq, where America and Iran have competed for influence since the 2003 US-led invasion.
Trump says he ordered the strike, a high-risk decision that was made without consulting Congress or US allies, to prevent a conflict. US officials say Soleimani was plotting a series of attacks that endangered American troops and officials, without providing evidence.
The US-led coalition has scaled back operations and boosted “security and defensive measures” at bases hosting coalition forces in Iraq, a coalition official said on condition of anonymity according to regulations. The US has meanwhile dispatched another 3,000 troops to neighboring Kuwait, the latest in a series of deployments in recent months as the standoff with Iran has worsened.
Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional policy of mobilizing militias across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, including in the war against the Islamic State group. He was also blamed for attacks on US troops and American allies going back decades.
Content retrieved from: https://www.timesofisrael.com/missiles-hit-near-us-embassy-base-housing-troops-day-after-soleimani-killing/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter.