WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has accused “Iran-backed militias” of carrying out the Sunday rocket attack on the Green Zone in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad.
“The United States strongly condemns the latest attack by Iran-backed militias on the International Zone in Baghdad. While no Embassy personnel were harmed, the attack caused at least one Iraqi civilian casualty and damaged Iraqi civilian property. We wish those hurt a speedy recovery,” Pompeo said in a Sunday statement.
He called on Iraqis to support government efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the rocket attacks.
“As Iraq struggles with COVID-19 and an increasingly dire economic crisis, Iran-backed militias are the most serious impediment to helping Iraq return to peace and prosperity. The same militias targeting diplomatic facilities are stealing Iraqi state resources on a massive scale, attacking peaceful protesters and activists, and engaging in sectarian violence,” Pompeo said.
The US embassy in Baghdad said on Sunday that the latest rocket attack on the Green Zone, which hosts diplomatic missions and government buildings, inflicted some minor damage to its premises.
According to Iraqi TV reports, three rockets were fired at Baghdad’s Green Zone on Sunday and the US embassy’s air defence systems responded to the attack.
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