BREAKING: Rockets Shot Into the Green Zone Near US Embassy and at Balad Air Base Which Houses US Troops

By Nick Arama | 2:00 PM on January 04, 2020

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Looks like the militia may be trying some return action today against the United States.

Reports out of Iraq are there have been two rocket attacks near U.S. assets in the Baghdad area.

One attack involved a Katyusha rocket that hit in the Green Zone near the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

#BREAKING
Reports indicate missile/rocket landing in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, inside the U.S. Embassy vicinity.
Reuters witness says major explosion heard. pic.twitter.com/uJWL8kFhiw

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) January 4, 2020

Police in Iraq say a Katyusha rocket has fallen inside Baghdad's Green Zone with no casualties reported.

Read the latest news here: https://t.co/iOm40vn1kt pic.twitter.com/0o2wMuib2z

— Sky News (@SkyNews) January 4, 2020

BREAKING: Reports that rockets have hit Baghdad's Green Zone – houses government offices and foreign embassies, no casualties reported so far @GlobalBC

— Negar Mojtahedi (@NegarMojtahedi) January 4, 2020

#UPDATE
Rocket fell in Celebrations Square inside Baghdad's Green Zone close to the U.S. Embassy.
No impact on the US Embassy.

My take:#Iran-backed militias carried out this attack to save face while being careful not to harm any Americans, knowing Trump would respond strong. pic.twitter.com/UKRUcMRs0h

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) January 4, 2020

#Iraq :Video after rockets fell near the heavily-fortified Green Zone area in #Baghdad pic.twitter.com/syOWHP9E1R

— Ali Al Shouk (@alialshouk) January 4, 2020

No U.S. injuries are reported in that attack.

An hour and a half later, there were at least three rockets fired at the Balad Airbase which is an Iraqi airbase that houses U.S. soldiers. Again initial reports suggest there were no U.S. injuries. There are reports of possibly a few Iraqi injuries.

#UPDATE
At least three rockets strike Balad Airbase, located 80 km north of Baghdad, Iraq.

Map credit: @BaxtiyarGoran pic.twitter.com/qO9TRiBPVi

— Heshmat Alavi (@HeshmatAlavi) January 4, 2020

Now it’s important to note that while it may be retaliation, it’s also not uncommon. Balad appears to be a prior target and rockets have landed near the embassy in the past.

At least three mortar impacts were confirmed this evening at Balad Air Base.

Located in the heart of the Sunni triangle, the facility has long been targeted by insurgent forces seeking to harm coalition forces. pic.twitter.com/YVhDFdpYhe

— The Intel Crab (@IntelCrab) January 4, 2020

There were rocket attacks on US Iraqi bases in

December (https://t.co/uS3VYd3eNP)

November (https://t.co/6fSgHJ7trK)

August (https://t.co/Ft2FMNboTO)

June (https://t.co/ggyKFk5MJw)

May (https://t.co/d1aQiVkslY)

etc. The idea that it was nice and quiet up until now is 🐂💩 https://t.co/4tC3cIYX3p

— neontaster (@neontaster) January 4, 2020

Iraqis have been living with this from the militias for a long time.

Indeed, one of the reasons we took out Soleimani was because of prior rocket attacks including one that killed a U.S. contractor and wounded four other Americans.

This is a developing story and we will keep you updated if more breaks.