Iraq security seizes rockets 'intended for Baghdad’s Green Zone'

Iraqi security forces yesterday seized seven Katyusha rockets believed to be designated to attack the heavily fortified Green Zone in the centre of the capital, Baghdad, Anadolu reported.

The agency quoted Captain Ahmed Khalaf of Baghdad Police saying that the seven Katyusha rockets had been found ready to be launched near the highway east of Baghdad, also known as the Muhammad Al-Qasim Road.

On Tuesday morning, the missile defence system in the American embassy in Baghdad responded to a Katyusha missile that targeted the area without causing any casualties, Captain Khalaf said.

The Green Zone includes the headquarters of government institutions and diplomatic missions, including the US embassy, which has been subject to repeated missile attacks.

Attacks against the Green Zone increased after the assassination of the commander of the Iranian Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in a US drone strike near Baghdad International Airport at the start of the year.

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