Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani condemns attack on US embassy in Baghdad
Iraq’s military communications center confirmed that five Katyusha rockets hit the Green Zone on Sunday evening. Although the military said there were no casualties, a White House statement later reported one injury.
The Green Zone is a fortified area in the capital where diplomatic offices, as well as government buildings, are located.
“These atrocities pose genuine threats against the situation in Iraq, its stability, and interests,” President Barzani was quoted as saying in a statement on the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Presidency website.
“The continuation of such actions will inevitably lead to detrimental repercussions and consequences for the country,” he added.
President Barzani emphasized that the protection “of embassies and diplomatic missions is the duty of the authorities,” adding that any violation of international rules and regulations “and targeting diplomats and diplomatic missions must be prevented.”
“We reiterate that Iraq should not become a battleground for regional and international powers to settle rivalries,” the statement concluded.
The attack comes six days after three missiles struck near the embassy. Such rocket strikes have been semi-regular over the past few months amid ongoing tensions between the US and Iran along with its Iraqi proxies.
On Jan. 9, two rockets landed in Iraq’s fortified Green Zone but caused no casualties. The Iraqi Army said the Katyusha rockets landed near the US embassy in Baghdad. Along with these, Iraqi bases housing American and coalition forces have been the target of similar attacks in recent months.
On Jan. 7, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missile strikes at airbases in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in retaliation for the US killing of Iranian general Qasim Soleimani days earlier outside an airport in Baghdad.
Editing by Karzan Sulaivany
