Three rockets hit near US embassy in Baghdad

BAGHDAD: Three rockets hit near the US embassy in the Iraqi capital’s high-security Green Zone, security sources told AFP, with no immediate reports of casualties.

Sirens could be heard across the zone immediately after the rockets made impact.

The United States has blamed Iran-backed paramilitary groups for a spate of similar attacks in recent months on the Green Zone, but there has never been a claim of responsibility.

The development comes in the wake of escalated tensions in the region following the US killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Iraq earlier this month.

Qasem Soleimani, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' elite Quds Force, was killed in a US drone strike ordered by US President Donald Trump at Baghdad International Airport on January 3.

Days later, Tehran retaliated by firing a barrage of missiles at two US military bases in Iraq including the Ain al-Asad air base. While Donald Trump assured that no casualties were there, later reports by US military revealed at least 11 troops were injured in Iran missile attack in Iraq on January 8.

Soleimani's death had marked a dramatic escalation in tension between the US and Iran.