Six Rockets Target Baghdad Airport, Damaging Two Planes

At least three rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport late on Thursday. (AFP file photo)
At least three rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport late on Thursday. (AFP file photo)
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Six Rockets Target Baghdad Airport, Damaging Two Planes

At least three rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport late on Thursday. (AFP file photo)
At least three rockets landed in the perimeter of Baghdad International Airport late on Thursday. (AFP file photo)

Six rockets were fired Friday at the Iraqi capital's airport, causing damage but no casualties, authorities said, the latest in a string of attacks the US blames on Iran-linked militias.

The rockets hit Baghdad International Airport's causing "significant damage to one runway and to two civilian planes", the Civil Aviation department said in a statement.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi denounced the attacks, which he said were aimed at "tarnishing" Iraq's reputation and "casting doubt over the security situation".

The attack was not immediately claimed by any group.

Recent months have seen rocket and drone attacks target the US embassy in Baghdad's high-security Green Zone, a US diplomatic facility at the airport and troops belonging to a US-led coalition stationed at Iraqi bases.

The past few weeks have also seen violence targeting Iraqi politicians and parties, largely consisting of grenade attacks, but also extending to one rocket assault near the home of a key politician, amid tensions surrounding the formation of a new government.

One of the planes hit was a Boeing 767 belonging to Iraqi Airways, that was out of service and stationary.

The state-owned airline posted pictures of the damage, consisting of a hole near the nose of a plane. No flights were affected by the attack, the airline added.

The security services also said that Katyusha rockets had been fired on the airport.

A rocket launcher with three projectiles was found in the Abu Ghreib region north of Baghdad, the security services said, adding they had "important leads" that could help track down the assailants.

Post-election tensions
Like Friday's rockets, recent attacks are rarely claimed.

But they are routinely pinned on pro-Iran factions, who demand that US troops deployed to help Iraqi forces fight the ISIS group leave the country.

The US-led coalition ended its combat mission in Iraq in December, four years after the Baghdad government declared victory over the extremists.

But roughly 2,500 American soldiers and 1,000 coalition soldiers remain deployed in Iraq to offer training, advice and assistance to national forces.

On January 3, US forces downed two armed drones that targeted the coalition at Baghdad airport, according to a coalition source.

On January 13, three people, including two children, were wounded by a rocket that hit a school in the Green Zone, while two other rockets fell inside the US embassy complex, without causing casualties.

Recent attacks have also come amid a tense political situation.

An election in October saw Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, the political wing of pro-Iran ex-paramilitary coalition Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), lose most of its seats. It alleged the polls were rigged.

A bloc led by Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr took the largest share of seats, and is trying to form a coalition government that could include Sunni and Kurdish factions.

Three rockets on Tuesday landed near the home of Sunni parliament speaker and prospective Sadr ally Mohammed al-Halbousi, just hours after the supreme court approved his re-election in that role.



US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
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US Determines Sudan's RSF Committed Genocide, Imposes Sanctions on Leader

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commander, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, attends a meeting of representatives of the tripartite mechanism in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 8, 2022. (AFP)

The United States determined on Tuesday that members of Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias committed genocide in Sudan and it imposed sanctions on the group's leader over a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and driven millions from their homes.

The moves deal a blow to the RSF's attempts to burnish its image and assert legitimacy - including by installing a civilian government- as the paramilitary group seeks to expand its territory beyond the roughly half of the country it currently controls.

The RSF rejected the measures.

"America previously punished the great African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela, which was wrong. Today, it is rewarding those who started the war by punishing (RSF leader) General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, which is also wrong," said an RSF spokesman when reached for comment.

The war in Sudan has produced waves of ethnically driven violence blamed largely on the RSF. It has also carried out mass looting campaigns across swathes of the country, arbitrarily killing and sexually assaulting civilians in the process.

The RSF denies harming civilians and attributes the activity to rogue actors it says it is trying to control.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement the RSF and aligned militias had continued to direct attacks against civilians, adding they had systematically murdered men and boys on an ethnic basis and had deliberately targeted women and girls from certain ethnic groups for rape and other forms of sexual violence.

The militias have also targeted fleeing civilians and murdered innocent people escaping conflict, Blinken said.

"The United States is committed to holding accountable those responsible for these atrocities," Blinken said.

Washington announced sanctions on the leader of the RSF, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, barring him and his family from travelling to the US and freezing any US assets he might hold. Financial institutions and others that engage in certain activity with him also risk being hit with sanctions themselves.

It had previously sanctioned other leaders, as well as army officials, but had not sanctioned Dagalo, known as Hemedti, as attempts to bring the two sides to talks continued.

Such attempts have stalled in recent months.

"As the overall commander of the RSF, Hemedti bears command responsibility for the abhorrent and illegal actions of his forces," the Treasury said.

Sudan's army and RSF have been fighting for almost two years, creating a humanitarian crisis in which UN agencies struggle to deliver relief. More than half of Sudan's population faces hunger, and famine has been declared in several areas.

The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule.

Blinken said in the statement that "both belligerents bear responsibility for the violence and suffering in Sudan and lack the legitimacy to govern a future peaceful Sudan."

The US has sanctioned army leaders as well as individuals and entities linked to financing its weapons procurement. Last year, Blinken accused the RSF and the army, which has carried out numerous indiscriminate air strikes, of war crimes.