Rocket Attack in Baghdad Targets US-Run Diplomatic Center

The attack targeted the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC) in late Saturday, tweeted Col. Wayne Marotto, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the codename for the US-led military campaign in Iraq.

“Initial report: At approx 0015 local time (21:15 GMT on Saturday)” the facility “was attacked by one rocket round,” he said.

“The rocket impacted near the BDSC and caused no injuries or damage. The attack is under investigation,” the spokesman added.

The BDSC is run by the Management Section of the US Embassy in Iraq.

The US official alleged that such attacks undermine “the national sovereignty of Iraq,” repeating a Washington narrative that runs strictly counter to the history of the American intervention in the country.

Washington invaded Iraq in 2003 under the pretext of waging “the war on terror.” The offensive used the excuse that Iraq was harboring “weapons of mass destruction,” something that was proven wrong later.

The invasion, however, went on to give rise to increasing anti-American sentiment within the Iraqi society as well as unchecked ethnic violence and chaos.

The Takfiri terrorist group of Daesh reared its head amid the situation in 2014. Washington used this as another excuse, leading scores of its allies into Iraq under the banner of waging the OIR.

Grassroot resentment of the foreign presence shot up to an all-time high last year after a US-led drone attack martyred senior Iranian and Iraqi anti-terror commanders, Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Soon after the assassinations, the Iraqi parliament overwhelmingly passed a law demanding full withdrawal of all US-led forces.

Rocket attacks have also grown in number and frequency against the American interests in the country since the hugely-popular figures’ assassination.

Last week, Marotto reported a rocket attack on Iraq’s Ain al-Assad Airbase in the western province of al-Anbar, which houses the coalition’s forces.