In the first attack following a brief lull in violence from earlier this month, Iraq’s military on Thursday said at least two rockets hit inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government and home to the American Embassy.
There were no casualties, said an Iraqi security official who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
Iraqi officials also said the U.S. renewed a sanctions waiver enabling Iraq to import crucial Iranian gas and electricity, but with a shorter deadline.
The two projectiles struck near the Baghdad Operations Command, which coordinates Iraq’s police and military forces, the military statement said. The command center is a few hundred meters away from the U.S. Embassy, which is a regular target of rocket attacks.
The attack occurred as a state-imposed curfew to contain the spread of the new Coronavirus was extended for a second time effective until April 11, according to a cabinet statement. The effective lockdown has prohibited large public gatherings and shuttered all but essential businesses such as pharmacies and supermarkets.
The statement said the rockets were launched from the al-Nahda area of Baghdad.
It was the latest rocket attack to strike the Green Zone since three rockets hit an area near the embassy last Tuesday. That attack was the fourth to target U.S. interests in Iraq in the span of a week following assaults on the Basmaya training camp and two separate attacks on Camp Taji. Both bases are near the Iraqi capital.
