Iraqi security sources told Al-Jazeera that the American "Sea Ram" ballistic and anti-missile defense system launched at dawn today several shots from inside the American embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad, and the reason for that has not yet been officially revealed.
The security media cell of the joint operations in Iraq confirmed in an official statement that a Katyusha missile had been fired towards the Green Zone near a house and caused a child's wound and material losses.
The cell statement also confirmed that another missile attack had been foiled, targeting the Taji camp, north of Baghdad, where American forces are present.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Baghdad, Samer Yusef, stated that the "Sea Ram" system has been present in Iraq, according to American sources, since 2008, while Iraqi sources said that the system was equipped in Baghdad in February.
The reporter pointed out that many Iraqi authorities criticized the American action, considering that it violates Iraqi sovereignty.
Hassan Al-Kaabi, the first deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, had criticized yesterday a security exercise punctuated by gunfire that took place inside the American embassy in Baghdad.
In an official statement, Al-Kaabi described the shooting under the pretext of using the air defense system as a provocative step that violates all laws and diplomatic norms.
He called on the Iraqi government to take resolute action to ensure the cessation of what he called illegal movements and acts provoking the feelings of the Iraqi people.
And the first deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament held the US embassy responsible for the shooting in a residential area in the center of the capital.
Last month, the Iraqi army's anti-terrorist forces arrested a number of members of the "Hezbollah" brigades that are part of the Popular Mobilization Organization during a raid in its headquarters west of Baghdad, and the Katyusha missile platform, which authorities said was used to bomb a US base in the vicinity of Baghdad International Airport and buildings, was confiscated. And government sites.
After hours of arrest, members of the Hezbollah Brigades stormed the headquarters of the anti-terrorist agency in the Green Zone in the center of the capital, Baghdad, where the government headquarters and a number of foreign embassies are located, including the American embassy.
It is the most daring raid in years of Iraqi security forces against a powerful armed faction backed by Tehran's "Hezbollah Brigades", whom US officials have accused of firing missiles at bases hosting American forces and other facilities in Iraq.
Since October 2019, more than 33 missiles have targeted Iraqi facilities hosting diplomats or foreign soldiers, as well as the US embassy in Baghdad.