US Offers $3 Million for Information on Iraq Attacks

A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)
A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)
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US Offers $3 Million for Information on Iraq Attacks

A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)
A drone struck Baghdad airport, where US troops are based, an hour after five rockets were fired at an airbase to the north on Wednesday. (AFP)

The US Department of State's Rewards for Justice program said Thursday it was offering a reward of up to $3 million for information on attacks against Americans in Iraq.

The announcement comes a day after an attack was carried out with three "explosive-laden" drones on Baghdad airport, where US troops are deployed.

"O faithful people of Iraq, cowardly terrorists are attacking US diplomatic missions in Iraq, then they are fleeing to hide among civilians," said a statement in Arabic on the Twitter account of Rewards for Justice.

"America is offering a reward of up to $3 million for information on planned attacks or past ones against American diplomatic installations," said the statement, which was accompanied by a video.

It provided a US telephone number, and said the information could be sent via the messaging apps Whatsapp, Telegram or Signal.

US interests in Iraq have come under repeated attacks since October 2019, including with rockets, with the United States routinely blaming them on Iran-backed factions.

Since the beginning of the year, a total of 42 attacks have targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, Iraqi bases housing US troops or Iraqi convoys carrying logistical support.

The latest attack on Wednesday was carried out with three drones packed with explosives, the Iraqi army said on Thursday.

It said one of the drones had been intercepted by air defenses Wednesday evening, the fourth such drone attack in less than two months.

Experts say the use of such drones marks an escalation in attacks against American interests by pro-Iranian forces.

The techniques are similar to those deployed by the Houthis in Yemen against Saudi Arabia, according to AFP.

Wednesday's attack was the first such attack on targets in the Iraqi capital, the Arab world's second-most populated city.

On Wednesday, five rockets also landed at Balad, an airbase further north where American contractors are based, a security source said.

They did not cause any casualties or damage, the source said.

The Balad base has been targeted so regularly that US weapons firm Lockheed Martin withdrew last month, citing concerns about the safety of its personnel.

Pro-Iran groups on Wednesday had hailed what they described as "one more victory" for the state-affiliated Hashed Al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition, as commander Qassem Muslah was released.

Muslah had been arrested in May by police intelligence on suspicion of ordering the killing of Ihab al-Wazni, a pro-democracy activist shot dead earlier that month by unidentified gunmen on motorbikes.

Iraqi authorities have repeatedly blamed "outlaws" of carrying out "terrorist" attacks with rockets or explosive-laded drones but have struggled to identify those behind these assaults.



G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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G7 Leaders Endorse Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire and Insist Israel Follow International Law

 From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
From left, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Canada's Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Office Political Director Christian Turner, and European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pose for a family photo at the G7 of foreign Ministers in Fiuggi, some 70 kilometers south-east of Rome, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Foreign ministers from the world’s industrialized countries said Tuesday they strongly supported an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and insisted that Israel comply with international law in its ongoing military operations in the region.

At the end of their two-day summit, the ministers didn’t refer directly to the International Criminal Court and its recent arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister over crimes against humanity.

Italy had put the ICC warrants on the official meeting agenda, even though the G7 was split on the issue. The US, Israel’s closest ally, isn’t a signatory to the court and has called the warrants “outrageous.”

However, the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said all the other G7 countries were signatories and therefore obliged to respect the warrants.

In the end, the final statement adopted by the ministers said Israel, in exercising its right to defend itself, “must fully comply with its obligations under international law in all circumstances, including international humanitarian law.”

And it said all G7 members — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States – “reiterate our commitment to international humanitarian law and will comply with our respective obligations.” It stressed that “there can be no equivalence between the terrorist group Hamas and the State of Israel.”

The ICC warrants say there's reason to believe Netanyahu used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.