Brazen rocket attacks that targeted areas close to the US embassy in Baghdad ended a fragile truce between armed factions and Washington in Iraq.
“The truce reached by Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi collapsed with the recent rockets,” Dr. Ihssan Shmary, head of Center for Political Thinking in Iraq, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
According to Shmary, the agreement struck between Kadhimi and political wings of Iran-aligned armed factions in Iraq has failed to curb the incessant rocket attacks against international presence in Iraq.
“The attacks are aimed at mocking Kadhimi and making him look weak,” he noted, but added that the rocket attacks also are tempered according to the status of the conflict between Tehran and Washington.
Two Katyusha rockets had fallen late on Sunday in Baghdad’s Jadiriya area, near the heavily fortified Green Zone, without causing any casualties.
One of the rockets landed near the Babylon hotel, which is used by Iraqi travelers and sometimes for government meetings, the military said in the statement.
The Iraqi military blamed “terrorist groups” for the attack and said the rockets were fired from an area in the western part of the capital.
What is different about these attacks is that they did not trigger early warning systems at the US embassy, signaling that the goal behind them was not to necessarily threaten the American diplomatic mission.
The assault, according to analysts, was intended to measure government and US reactions.
Washington signaled last week that it could close its diplomatic mission in Baghdad if measures are not taken to control armed groups responsible for recent attacks against the US and other interests in the country.
Diplomatic targets within the Green Zone, home to foreign diplomatic offices and Iraqi government buildings, have repeatedly been subject to rocket attacks.
In other news, Iraqi President Barham Salih met with army Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Abdulamir Yarallah on Monday.
Salih said military operations should continue to defeat terrorism in the country.
Stressing the need for enhancing security and stability in Iraq, the president also emphasized that diplomatic missions should be protected.
“It is essential to strengthen the capacity of Iraqi security forces and improve their fighting ability,” he was quoted as saying.
