Rocket Fired into Iraqi Capital's 'Green Zone', No Casualties (+Video)
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A rocket was fired into the Iraqi capital Baghdad’s heavily-fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and foreign embassies, on Sunday but caused no casualties, the Iraqi military said.
“A Katyusha rocket fell in the middle of the Green Zone without causing any losses,” the military said in a statement, adding it landed near the Monument of the Unknown Soldier, according to Reuters.
The monument lies in open ground about half a kilometer (a third of a mile) north of the sprawling, riverside US embassy compound. The blast was heard across central Baghdad.
A US State Department official confirmed a “low-grade” rocket landed in the Green Zone near the embassy, but said there were no casualties or significant damage.
The US State Department official noted that there had so far been no claim of responsibility, and that no US-inhabited facility was impacted.
“But, we take this incident very seriously,” the State Department official said. “We will hold Iran responsible if any such attacks are conducted by its proxy militia forces or elements of such forces, and will respond to Iran accordingly.”
Hours after the blast in Baghdad, Trump wrote on Twitter, “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran. Never threaten the United States again!”
After the blast, Iraqi police special forces found a rocket launcher in eastern Baghdad’s al-Sina district, about 7 km (4.3 miles) away across the Tigris River from the Green Zone, and sealed off the area, a police source said.
Officers were searching for suspects and an ordnance disposal team from the Baghdad Operations Command was inspecting the launcher, the source said.