Three rockets ‘score direct hits on the US embassy in Baghdad’ in latest round of missiles aimed at heavily fortified Green Zone
Three out of five rockets fired on Sunday directly hit the US embassy in Iraq’s capital, a security source has said – including one that slammed into a cafe at dinner time.
Iraq’s security forces had earlier reported no casualties.
The diplomatic mission, which lies in Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone, has been regularly hit by rockets in recent months.
Sunday’s attack took place earlier in the day than usual and it was the first time a direct hit was reported.
It comes as thousands of students flooded Iraqi streets Sunday to keep up their anti-government movement despite a crackdown.
Medical sources said one protester was killed by live fire in the capital Sunday, while another was killed in the southern hotspot of Nasiriyah, as demonstrators defied gunshots and tear gas fired by riot police seeking to shut protest camps.
Activists have worried in recent weeks that their months-long movement demanding a complete overhaul of Iraq’s political establishment could be snuffed out.
Stoking those concerns, firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr dropped his support for the protest movement on Friday, after holding an anti-US rally attended by thousands in Baghdad.