Missiles hit Baghdad’s Green Zone and Iraq base housing US troops

US feared a backlash against its mission and bases in Iraq following killing of Iran’s top commander Soleimani

BAGHDAD: Two mortar rounds hit the Iraqi capital's Green Zone Saturday and two rockets slammed into a base housing US troops, security sources said, a day after a deadly American strike.

General Qassem Soleimani — head of the Quds Force, Iran’s foreign operations arm — was killed in a drone attack before dawn in Baghdad on Friday, an attack that has sparked fears of a regional war between Washington and Tehran.

Iran promised “severe revenge” in response, as a number of nations urged restraint.

In Baghdad, mortar rounds on Saturday evening hit the Green Zone, the high-security enclave where the US embassy is based, security sources said.

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The Iraqi military said that one projectile hit inside the zone, while another landed close to the enclave.

Sirens rang out at the US compound, sources there told AFP.

A pair of Katyusha rockets then hit the Balad airbase north of Baghdad, where American troops are based, security sources and the Iraqi military said.

"Several rockets targeted Celebration Square and the Jadriya area in Baghdad, and the Balad air base in Salahuddin province, with no loss of life. Further details to come," the Iraqi military said in a statement.

Security sources there reported blaring sirens and said surveillance drones were sent above the base to locate the source of the rockets.

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Iraqi troops warned

Meanwhile, Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah militia has warned Iraqi security forces to stay away from US bases in Iraq, al-Mayadeen television reported.

“Security forces must stay clear of American bases by a distance not less and a thousand metres starting Sunday evening,” the Iraqi channel quoted the militia as saying.

The US feared a backlash against its mission and bases where its troops are deployed across Iraq following the precision drone strike that killed Gen Soleimani yesterday.