Two Rockets Hit Baghdad’s Fortified Green Zone

Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (Reuters)
Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (Reuters)
TT

Two Rockets Hit Baghdad’s Fortified Green Zone

Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (Reuters)
Cars drive past the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq June 10, 2019. (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 US military official told Reuters that the C-RAM system brought down one of the rounds and none of them landed on the US embassy. The official said there were no American casualties.

The Green Zone hosts foreign embassies, including the US embassy, and government buildings and is regularly the target of rockets fired by groups that US and Iraqi officials say are backed by Iran.

US officials have said Iranian-backed militia could increase attacks on US 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 US drone strike in Iraq on Jan. 2, 2020.



Israeli Military Says It Intercepts Missile Fired from Yemen

 People run for cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles fired from Yemen, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
People run for cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles fired from Yemen, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
TT

Israeli Military Says It Intercepts Missile Fired from Yemen

 People run for cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles fired from Yemen, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)
People run for cover as a siren sounds a warning of incoming missiles fired from Yemen, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP)

A surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen at central Israel on Monday was intercepted, the Israeli military said.

The missile set off air raid sirens across large swaths of central Israel, sending residents running for shelter.

"Following the sirens that sounded in a number of areas in central Israel, the surface-to-surface missile fired from Yemen was successfully intercepted" by the Israeli Air Force, the military said in a statement.

The statement did not say who fired the missile. The Iran-backed Houthi militias, which control northern Yemen, have frequently attacked Israel over the past year in what it says is solidarity with the Palestinians.