The embassy is located in the ultra-secure Green Zone of Baghdad, which also houses parliament and other government offices. These factions in Iraq are calling for the departure of all US forces stationed in the country.Īnother security source who did not wish to be identified said on Thursday there were no injuries or damage inside the US Embassy compound. The attacks are rarely claimed, but are routinely pinned on pro-Iran factions. In recent months, dozens of rocket assaults or drone bomb attacks have targeted American troops and interests in Iraq. “Two of those fell on the grounds of the American Embassy, and the other on a school nearby, injuring a woman, a girl and a young boy.” “Three rockets were fired toward the Green Zone,” a high-ranking Iraqi official said, preferring anonymity. Separately, three people including two children were wounded in rocket attacks on Thursday in Baghdad’s Green Zone, with one hitting a school and two smashing into the US Embassy grounds, Iraqi security sources said. Iraq’s post-election period has been marred by high tensions, violence and allegations of vote fraud. This will affect the work of parliament whose first task is to elect the country’s president, who then must name a prime minister tasked with forming a new government following October elections.īut the court said suspending the speaker should not affect a 30- day deadline to elect Iraq’s new president. On Thursday, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court, the country’s highest tribunal, provisionally suspended Halbousi, after two fellow deputies lodged a complaint claiming his re-election was unconstitutional. Shiite parties aligned with Iran and which rival Al-Sadr, opposed the selection of Halbousi. 10 general election in which the populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr was the biggest winner, voted to reinstate Halbousi for his second term as speaker on Sunday. Iraq’s parliament, newly elected after an Oct. There was no claim of responsibility for the second incident. No group claimed responsibility and there was no comment from Halbousi or the Iraqi government immediately for the incident.Ī similar incident hours later targeted the Baghdad headquarters of the Azm party of another Sunni politician, Khamis Al-Khanjar, police said, but caused only light damage.
The blast caused damage to the building’s doors and windows, police said. The protesters oppose the candidacy of Mohammed al-Sudani, a former minister and ex-provincial governor, who is the pro-Iran Coordination Framework's pick for premier.BAGHDAD: An explosion from a hand grenade hit the headquarters of Iraqi parliament speaker Mohammed Halbousi’s Taqaddum party in Baghdad early on Friday wounding two guards, police sources said. The oil-rich country remains mired in a political and a socioeconomic crisis, despite elevated global oil prices. Sadr's bloc won 73 seats in Iraq's October 2021 election, making it the largest faction in the 329-seat parliament.īut since the vote, talks to form a new government have stalled. He warned in a statement that security forces would see to "the protection of state institutions and foreign missions, and prevent any harm to security and order".Īn AFP correspondent in the Green Zone had earlier seen protesters carrying a fellow demonstrator who had been hurt. Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi called on the protesters to "immediately withdraw" from the Green Zone. The heavily fortified Green Zone is home to government buildings and diplomatic missions.
State agency INA said on messaging app Telegram that "protesters have entered the parliament building". Protesters "stormed the parliament" after initially being stopped by police firing a barrage of tear gas, a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr on Wednesday stormed parliament after penetrating the capital's high-security government Green Zone, protesting against a rival bloc's nomination for prime minister.