US Embassy Staffer Hurt in Baghdad Rocket Attack

A member of the US Embassy staff in Baghdad was injured by a rocket that hit a dining area in the embassy compound overnight between Sunday and Monday. The staffer’s nationality was not immediately clear, nor was the extent of the person’s wounds. Earlier this month, the riverfront compound, in Baghdad’s so-called Green Zone district of embassies and government buildings, was the target of violent crowds protesting the death of a top Iranian general in a January 3 US drone attack at the city’s international airport. Its outer perimeter and at least one entrance hall were breached and set ablaze before the US flew in military reinforcements via helicopter in a nighttime operation. Earlier on Sunday, five rockets targeted the Green Zone, with no reports of injuries or extensive damage. No one has claimed responsibility, although it is generally believed that the attacks on the embassy and the wider area have been the work of Shi’ite militias calling themselves the Popular Mobilization Forces, which are made up of Iraqis believed to take their orders from Iran.