BREAKING NEWS: Rocket attack on Baghdad airport kills at least seven, including top pro-Iran militiamen linked to attack on US embassy
- Pro-Iran militia Popular Mobilization Forces blames the US for the attack
- Five PMF officials and two ‘civilians’ were killed in the strike, officials say
- Local security official describes the attack as a coordinated airstrike
At least seven people have been killed in a rocket attack on the Baghdad airport, including high-level pro-Iran militiamen linked to the recent attack on the U.S. embassy.
An official with the Iran-backed group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces blaming the United States for the late-night attack on a plane carrying PMF leaders.
The official said the dead included its airport protocol officer, identifying him as Mohammed Reda.
A security official confirmed that seven people were killed in the attack on the airport, describing it as an airstrike.
Social media photos show burning wreckage in what has been described as an airstrike at Baghdad International Airport. Pro-Iran militia members were among those killed
Earlier, Iraq’s Security Media Cell, which releases information regarding Iraqi security, said Katyusha rockets landed near the airport’s cargo hall, killing several people and setting two cars on fire.
It was not immediately clear who fired the missile or rockets or who was targeted. There was no immediate comment from the U.S.
The security official said the bodies of those killed in the airport attack Friday were burned and difficult to identify. The official added that Reda may have been at the airport to pick up a group of “high-level” visitors who had arrived from a neighboring country. He declined to provide more information.
The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year’s Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted President Donald Trump to order about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East.
The breach at the embassy followed U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said the strikes were in retaliation for last week´s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia.
U.S. officials have suggested they were prepared to engage in further retaliatory attacks in Iraq.
The aftermath of the rocket attack is seen above
“The game has changed,” Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday, telling reporters that violent acts by Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq – including the rocket attack on Dec. 27 that killed one American – will be met with U.S. military force.
He said the Iraqi government has fallen short of its obligation to defend its American partner in the attack on the U.S. embassy.
The developments also represent a major downturn in Iraq-U.S. relations that could further undermine U.S. influence in the region and American troops in Iraq and weaken Washington´s hand in its pressure campaign against Iran.
Developing story, more to follow.