Attack on US embassy threatens Iraqi sovereignty, political scene: politician
Targeting Baghdad’s Green Zone and the diplomatic missions within it “might bring a storm upon the sovereignty of the state and destabilize its world public image,” Ammar al-Hakim tweeted, having condemned and denounced the attack.
“Our homeland is in the midst of a sensitive and perilous change, these actions can only add more confusion and complication” to the Iraqi political scene, noted the cleric and leader of the National State Forces Alliance.
At least four rockets hit the US embassy in the ultra-secure Green Zone on Thursday evening, home to government offices and diplomatic missions, according to AP. The attack led to the injury of a woman and a child, the Iraqi Security Media Cell said.
The cell also confirmed that one of the rockets had hit a school located in a nearby residential area.
The US embassy tweeted that “terrorist groups” attempting to undermine Iraq’s security, sovereignty and international relations attacked the office.
“We have long said that these sorts of reprehensible attacks are an assault not just on diplomatic facilities, but on the sovereignty of Iraq itself.”
Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby said following the attack that the US was "still assessing the damage," and "the health and safety of our people."
The attack came hours after Iraq’s Federal Court suspended the recently elected parliamentary head and his deputies in response to the lawsuit filed by two MPs on the grounds that the voting process violated the constitution and the legislature’s bylaws.
Almost three months after October’s early elections, Iraq held its first parliamentary session on Sunday with a chaotic beginning that led to the active speaker being taken to hospital. Several Shiite factions, who were defeated in the vote, said they will not recognize the outcome of the session due to the absence of a constitutionally-required member when the voting for the parliamentary speaker and his deputies occurred.
Senior commander of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah Abu Ali al-Askari said the rocket attack was a “response” to the court ruling regarding the first session of the legislature, blaming the offensive on groups affiliated with “Britain and Emirates.”
Leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia Qais al-Khazali also denied the involvement of what he called “resistance factions” in the recent attack on the embassy.
Both militias are Iran-backed factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic).
Diplomatic missions and US bases are often attacked with rockets and explosive-laden drones, and the offensives are routinely pinned on the Iran-backed factions and militias who oppose the American presence in the country.
Iraqi President and candidate for a second term Barham Salih condemned the attack in a tweet. “We must stand firmly united against these attacks,” he noted.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) also denounced the offensives.
Rockets targeting embassies, causing injury among Iraqi civilians, are callous attempts to destabilise the country. Peace and security are prerequisites to tackle urgent domestic priorities and reaffirm Iraqi sovereignty.
— UNAMI (@UNIraq) January 13, 2022
Targeting American troops and their foreign offices have increased in Iraq since the US assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike on January 3, 2020. The killing of Soleimani who was the head of the Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), sent US-Iran tensions soaring, and prompted a spate of rocket attacks on military bases in Iraq as Tehran threatened revenge for the general’s death.
US bases and compounds in Iraq have been targeted five times in the past two weeks. America said last week that it does not attribute the attacks to any particular group.
There have been at least 30 reported rocket and drone attacks on bases and facilities housing US forces and personnel in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region last year, according to data compiled by Rudaw English.