عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Iraq Military: Rocket Hit Baghdad Green Zone, Minor Damages

Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)
Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Iraq Military: Rocket Hit Baghdad Green Zone, Minor Damages

Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)
Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)

A rocket struck Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, the seat of Iraq's government, early on Tuesday morning, according to an Iraqi military statement, the first attack on the area since Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi was sworn in earlier this month.

The Katyusha rocket hit an empty house, causing minor damages, reported The Associated Press.

The Green Zone is where government buildings and foreign embassies are located. A preliminary investigation indicated the rocket was launched from the nearby Al-Idrisi neighborhood on Palestine Street, the statement said.

An Iraqi official said the rocket had struck near the US Embassy, without elaborating. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

Previous attacks have frequently targeted the US presence in Iraq, including the embassy and Iraqi bases hosting American troops. The US has blamed Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia group backed by Iran, of perpetrating the attacks.

Kadhimi’s government, which was approved just weeks ago, is preparing for a strategic dialogue with Washington, expected to take place next month. The talks will touch on security and economic cooperation between both countries.

The issue of militias acting outside of state control is also expected to be on the agenda.

Kadhimi's government, meanwhile, is scrambling to address a severe financial crisis brought on by falling oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Syria Unveils Plan to Eliminate Assad’s Chemical Weapons

Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi (L), speaks during a Security Council meeting discussing Syria and the Middle East at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 18 March 2026. (EPA)
Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi (L), speaks during a Security Council meeting discussing Syria and the Middle East at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 18 March 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

Syria Unveils Plan to Eliminate Assad’s Chemical Weapons

Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi (L), speaks during a Security Council meeting discussing Syria and the Middle East at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 18 March 2026. (EPA)
Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi (L), speaks during a Security Council meeting discussing Syria and the Middle East at United Nations headquarters in New York, New York, USA, 18 March 2026. (EPA)

Syria on Wednesday launched a plan supported by Washington to rid the Middle Eastern country of legacy chemical weapons that were used against its people by forces under ousted leader Bashar al-Assad.

For decades, Assad ran a large-scale program for chemical weapons, the use of which killed and injured thousands during Syria's long-running civil war. Despite Damascus' signing onto the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013 and declaring a 1,300-ton stockpile, prohibited use continued and the size of the program remains ‌unclear.

An international taskforce ‌backed by the United States, Germany, Britain, Canada and ‌France, ⁠among others, will ⁠track down all remaining elements of the program and destroy them under the supervision of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Ibrahim Olabi, said in an interview.

As many as 100 sites in Syria need to be inspected to determine what toxic munitions remain and how they should be destroyed, OPCW experts have said. It will require a time-consuming and costly ⁠operation to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction ‌in a region fraught with conflict and ‌political turmoil.

The expanding US-Israeli war on Iran and broader regional security concerns will make the ‌timing of the mission uncertain, but all the more necessary to prevent ‌future use, officials said.

GOVERNMENT VOWS FULL ACCESS

Assad was overthrown in December 2024, and the new government under President Ahmed al-Sharaa has vowed to turn a page and eradicate banned chemical weapons and give inspectors full access.

The move shows that Syria has ‌shifted from a country that was once concealing chemical weapons use to one that is "leading the resolve" to do ⁠away with them, ⁠Olabi said.

Several international investigations concluded that the nerve agent sarin, as well as chlorine and sulfur mustard gas, was used by the Assad regime, but never revealed the full extent of the clandestine program.

"We don't know what's remaining. It was a secret program," Olabi said. "The job is on Syria to basically look for these things and then declare them."

A diplomatic source, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, said the 100 sites could be anything from military bases to laboratories or offices.

"It will probably take many months if not years to get it done, and of course the current situation in the Middle East doesn’t help the process to move forward to the actual destruction of any remnants of Assad‘s chemical weapons program," the source said.

Arab World

Pro-Iran Iraqi Armed Group Says Will Stop US Embassy Attacks, Under Conditions

A fire burns outside the grounds of the US Embassy headquarters in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 17, 2026 following a drone and rocket attack according to security officials. (AFP)
A fire burns outside the grounds of the US Embassy headquarters in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 17, 2026 following a drone and rocket attack according to security officials. (AFP)
TT
TT

Pro-Iran Iraqi Armed Group Says Will Stop US Embassy Attacks, Under Conditions

A fire burns outside the grounds of the US Embassy headquarters in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 17, 2026 following a drone and rocket attack according to security officials. (AFP)
A fire burns outside the grounds of the US Embassy headquarters in Baghdad's fortified "Green Zone" on March 17, 2026 following a drone and rocket attack according to security officials. (AFP)

An influential pro-Iranian armed group in Iraq pledged early Thursday to stop attacking the US embassy for five days, subject to several conditions including that Israel stop strikes on parts of Beirut.

AFP reported no drone or rocket attacks so far on the US embassy in Iraq's capital Baghdad between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The country has been unwillingly drawn into the regional conflict triggered by the US-Israel attack on its neighbor Iran on February 28.

Strikes have targeted Iran-backed groups, which in turn have claimed near daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region.

Kataib Hezbollah said the group's secretary-general had "issued orders to suspend operations targeting the US Embassy in Baghdad for a period of five days".

In a statement the Iran-backed group -- designated by Washington as a "terrorist organization" -- stipulated several conditions, including Israel "ceasing its bombardment" of southern Beirut suburbs, and "a commitment to refrain from bombing residential areas in Baghdad and other provinces".

Whenever "the enemy violates" the truce "the response will be immediate", it said, warning of an "escalation of strikes" after the five-day period.

The US embassy has been targeted by drone and rocket attacks several times in recent days, with air defenses intercepting most of the projectiles.

A US diplomatic and logistics center at Baghdad International Airport, which houses military personnel, has also been regularly targeted.

AFP journalists reported Wednesday morning at least four explosions in the city of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region.

It was unclear what the target was and the projectiles were intercepted over the city, home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses US-led coalition troops.

And a strike near Iraq's western border with Syria on Wednesday killed three fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the alliance said.

The fighters from the alliance -- now part of Iraq's regular armed forces -- were hit in a US or Israeli strike that targeted their main command center in Anbar province.

Pro-Iran factions also have brigades that operate within the alliance, but have a reputation for acting on their own.

- Gas stoppage -

The war has also battered Iraq's already fragile economy.

The country's gas imports from Iran were halted on Wednesday, authorities said, the cutoff coming as Baghdad barely had time to celebrate a deal to export a fraction of its oil production through Türkiye after disruptions to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

The electricity ministry's spokesperson Ahmed Moussa told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that "due to regional developments, Iranian gas supplies to Iraq completely halted an hour ago," cutting about 3,100 megawatts of power, which will "certainly affect the grid".

He sought, however, to calm fears of more frequent blackouts, saying the ministry will instead use "alternative fuels and domestic gas reserves".

News of the gas stoppage came after Tehran denounced a US-Israeli strike on Iranian facilities exploiting the vast South Pars/North Dome gas field.

Despite its abundant oil and gas reserves, Iraq's power plants are highly dependent on gas imported from Iran, which supplies about a third of the country's needs.

Electricity shortages are already a frequent complaint in Iraq, which suffers from endemic corruption and dilapidated public infrastructure.

Most households rely on private generators to compensate for daily power cuts.

Early Wednesday, Iraq said it resumed oil exports from its fields in the northern province of Kirkuk in agreement with the autonomous Kurdistan Region, through which the pipeline to Türkiye’s port of Ceyhan runs.

But it will export 250,000 barrels per day, only a fraction of the 3.5 million before the war.

However, Iraq, whose crude sales make up 90 percent of its foreign revenue, had few options after Iran effectively shuttered the Strait of Hormuz, through which Iraq previously shipped most of its oil from the southern Basra fields.

Arab World

Iran Missile Fire Kills 3 Palestinians in West Bank, Foreign Worker in Israel

Iranian missiles fly towards Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Iranian missiles fly towards Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
TT
TT

Iran Missile Fire Kills 3 Palestinians in West Bank, Foreign Worker in Israel

Iranian missiles fly towards Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma
Iranian missiles fly towards Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, as seen from Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 18, 2026. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma

Iranian missile attacks have killed three Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank and a foreign worker in central Israel, medics said Thursday.

Falling shrapnel struck a hair salon in the West Bank town of Beit Awa near Hebron late Wednesday, killing the three women, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, marking the first Palestinian deaths from Iranian attacks in the ongoing Middle East war.

The victims include 17-year-old Mays Ghazi Masalmeh, according to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

The Red Crescent said at least eight others were wounded, including one woman in critical condition.

Wafa reported that the salon had been set up in a metal caravan next to a house.

AFP images showed civil defense workers inside the caravan, whose roof appeared to be punctured by the falling munition. A rug and bed sheets were covered in blood.

The news agency said missile fragments landed in multiple locations across the West Bank, including within the city of Hebron, after Israel's military reported another round of Iranian missile launches.

A short while later, Israeli medics said Iranian missile fire had killed a man in central Israel, bringing the death toll in Israel from attacks during the ongoing war to 15.

Israel's Magen David Adom medical emergency service described the victim as a "foreign worker", with Israeli media reports saying he was a Thai national working in agriculture.

Thailand's foreign ministry confirmed on Thursday the death of a Thai agricultural worker, citing information from Israeli officials.

He was killed in Moshav Adanim, a town about 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Tel Aviv and less than eight kilometers from the West Bank, according to the Israeli medical service.

A statement from Magen David Adom quoted its medic Idan Shina as saying "metal shrapnel was scattered across the scene", where the man was found dead with "severe shrapnel injuries".

The Israeli military earlier said it had identified a round of missile fire from Iran, which it was "operating to intercept".

Since that attack, the military reported several more waves of Iranian attacks, triggering air raid alerts across parts of central and northern Israel as well as in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had launched missiles and drones at targets across Israel, according to a statement carried by Iranian news agencies Fars and ISNA.

Israeli media said some of the overnight barrages saw the use of cluster munitions, which explode mid-air and scatter bomblets across a wide area.

Iran and Israel have previously accused each other of using cluster bombs.