For the first time directly, three rockets hit the American Embassy in Baghdad on Sunday 26 January. At the same time, thousands of anti-government demonstrators challenged the security forces, which fired live ammunition, killing two people.
Hours after the shooting, the United States "called on the government of Iraq to fulfill its obligations to protect (their) diplomatic facilities".
"Turning Iraq into a war zone"
These rocket attacks are in addition to the series of attacks that have targeted in recent weeks the American embassy, located in the ultra-secure Green Zone of Baghdad, and Iraqi bases housing American soldiers.
None have been claimed, but Washington has repeatedly accused pro-Iran militias. A rocket crashed into an embassy cafeteria at lunchtime on Sunday, while two others fell nearby, a source in the security services told AFP.
At least one person was injured in the attack, a senior Iraqi official who requested anonymity told AFP. It was not immediately possible to know the nationality of the victim.
The US State Department spokesman said in a statement that since September, "there have been more than fourteen attacks by Iran and Iranian-backed militias against American personnel in Iraq."
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi denounced an "aggression" that could "transform Iraq into a war zone".
Victory V
At the end of December, an American subcontractor was killed by rocket fire on a base in the north of the country. In retaliation, Washington carried out air strikes on December 29 against several bases of the brigades of Hezbollah, an Iraqi Shiite armed group member of Hachd al-Chaabi, coalition of paramilitary dominated by factions pro-Iran and integrated into the regular forces.
At least 25 fighters from Hezbollah brigades were killed in the strikes and, on December 31, thousands of their supporters attacked the American embassy.
About 5,200 American soldiers are stationed in Iraq to lead the anti-Jihadist coalition. Anti-American sentiment in the country has rekindled after the death of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and his Iraqi lieutenant Abou Mehdi al-Mouhandis, killed in an American drone strike in Baghdad on January 3.
The powerful Shiite leader Moqtada al-Sadr organized a rally in Baghdad on Friday to demand the departure of American troops.
Thousands of students making the V for Victory and waving the Iraqi flag again invaded the streets and squares of Baghdad and several cities in the south of the country on Sunday.
With AFP
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