Violence escalates in Iraq as government pushes to end protests; rockets hit U.S. Embassy
Gunmen shot dead two protesters in Iraq's southern city of Nassiriya overnight and a Baghdad district became a battlefield on the third day of a drive by security forces to end months of demonstrations against the largely Iran-backed ruling elite. Clashes over the weekend had ...
Three rockets slammed into the U.S. Embassy in Iraq's capital on Sunday in the first direct hit reported after months of close calls, as thousands kept up anti-government sit-ins across the country. The attack marked a dangerous escalation in the spree of rocket attacks in ...
At least two rockets hit near U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, witnesses say
Two rockets hit near the U.S. Embassy in Iraq's capital Sunday, witnesses told AFP, hours after the ambassador was summoned over a U.S. strike that killed top Iraqi and Iranian commanders. Sunday's attack was the second night in a row that the Green Zone was ...
Mike Pompeo defends U.S. killing of Iranian general as Democrats ask 'Why now?'
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended President Donald Trump's decision to kill Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani, as Democratic lawmakers questioned whether the action was justified and the United States braced for retaliation. Democrats in Congress said it was not clear why the ...
One reported killed, several wounded as Katyusha rockets fall on Baghdad airport premises
Three Katyusha rockets fell on Baghdad International Airport, the military-run Security Media Cell said in a statement early on Friday. The rockets landed near the air cargo terminal, burning two vehicles and injuring several people, Security Media Cell said. At least one person was killed and ...
Elite Iraqi troops deployed to secure the U.S. Embassy Thursday, a day after a pro-Iran mob laid siege to it in dramatic scenes that overshadowed months of anti-government grassroots protests. The unprecedented attack on the American mission in Baghdad — in which intruders threw rocks, ...
U.S. sees signs Iran or its allies may be planning attacks: Pentagon chief
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Thursday that there were indications Iran or the forces it backs may be planning additional attacks and said it was possible the United States might have to take preemptive action to protect American lives. "There are some indications ...
A siege of the U.S. Embassy by pro-Iran protesters in Baghdad lasted just over a day, but analysts warn it could have lasting implications for Iraq's complex security sector and diplomatic ties. Baghdad had been struggling to keep up its precarious balancing act between its ...
Iran-backed paramilitary forces in Iraq under focus after U.S. strikes
The most powerful paramilitary groups in Iraq: Kataeb Hezbollah Formed in 2003 after the U.S.-led invasion, the secretive Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah (Battalions of the Party of God) is one of the smallest Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, with an estimated 5,000 members. But it is considered one ...
Supporters of Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary groups who stormed the U.S. Embassy's perimeter and hurled rocks in two days of protests withdrew on Wednesday after Washington dispatched extra troops and threatened reprisals against Tehran. The demonstrators, angry at U.S. airstrikes against the Tehran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group ...
Mike Pompeo postpones Ukraine trip after attack on U.S. Embassy in Iraq
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday postponed a trip to Ukraine, the country at the heart of impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, after an attack on the American Embassy in Baghdad, the State Department announced. Pompeo had been due to travel at ...
Iran blasts 'audacity' of U.S. to blame it for Iraq violence at its Baghdad embassy
Tehran hit out Tuesday at the "audacity" of Washington to blame it for violent anti-U.S. demonstrations in Iraq, warning the United States to review its policies in the region. "The surprising audacity of American officials is so much that after killing at least 25 ... ...
