Rocket attack hits near U.S. Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone

BAGHDAD — A rocket crashed Sunday night in the Iraqi capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone, landing less than a mile from the sprawling U.S. Embassy, an Iraqi military spokesman said.

The apparent attack, which Iraq’s state-run news agency said did not cause any casualties, came amid heightened tensions across the Persian Gulf, after the White House ordered warships and bombers to the region earlier this month to counter an alleged, unexplained threat from Iran. The U.S. also has ordered nonessential staff out of its diplomatic posts in Iraq.

It was the first such attack since September, when three mortar shells landed in an abandoned lot inside the Green Zone.

A security source has told the BBC that a Katyusha rocket landed in an abandoned building belonging to a security company in Baghdad’s Green Zone. It is close to the US embassy. The source said it is understood the rocket was fired into the Green Zone from eastern Baghdad.

— Martin Patience (@martinpatience) May 19, 2019

We heard one rocket fly over us and explode in the Green Zone in Baghdad. The Green Zone houses Iraqi government buildings and the US embassy ….

— Martin Patience (@martinpatience) May 19, 2019

It was the first such attack since September, when three mortar shells landed in an abandoned lot inside the Green Zone.

There was no immediate comment from the State Department or the U.S. Embassy in Iraq on Sunday’s attack.

Associated Press reporters on the east side of the Tigris River, opposite the Green Zone, heard an explosion, after which alert sirens sounded briefly in Baghdad.