BAGHDAD: Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah group vowed more assaults on US troops in the region and said attacks against American interests on Friday were just the start of “new rules of engagement,” Reuters reported on Saturday.
According to Reuters, this was stated by a security official from the group in a statement via social media.
The group, while not taking responsibility for a rare assault on the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraq on Friday, said the embassy was an operating base for planning army operations.
Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah Vows More Assaults on US Troops
There are around 2,500 US forces in Iraq and around 900 in Syria as part of attempt to prevent a resurgence of insurgency in the country. The US has counted about 84 assaults since October 17 against its troops in Syria and Iraq. Earlier, the Pentagon said that the assaults against US forces have left around 60 US personnel injured.
On Friday barrages of rockets were fired at the US embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone, the mission stated, the latest in a burst of such assaults amid the Hamas-Israel war.
“A multi-rocket assault was launched at US and Coalition troops in the area of Union III and the Baghdad embassy complex” without causing any damage, an American said. AFP reported that there was no claim of responsibility for the attack.
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The US leads a global coalition battling militants in Iraq and Syria, and its troops have come under repeated assault in recent few weeks.
The US “strongly” denounced the assaults and called on Iraq to bring the committers to justice, the State Department said.
In a statement, Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani warned that assaults on embassies undermine Iraq’s security and called on troops to bring those responsible to justice.
Friday’s rocket strike was the first against the American embassy in Baghdad since the Hamas-Israel war started on October 7, increasing regional tensions and fears of a wider crisis.
