Two rockets hit Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone – Iraqi state media

CAIRO (Reuters) -Two Katyusha rockets hit Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, Iraq’s state news agency reported early on Sunday citing security forces.

One rocket was destroyed in the air by the C-RAM defense system and the other landed near the zone’s festivals arena damaging two cars, the report added. Security forces started an investigation to detect the launch site, the agency reported. A U.S. military official told Reuters that the C-RAM system brought down one of the rounds and none of them landed on the U.S. embassy. The official said there were no American casualties.

The Green Zone hosts foreign embassies, including the U.S. embassy, and government buildings and is regularly the target of rockets fired by groups that U.S. and Iraqi officials say are backed by Iran. U.S. officials have said Iranian-backed militia could increase attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria in coming weeks, in part to mark the anniversary of the killing of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The two were killed by a U.S. drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 2, 2020.