Perpetrators of US Embassy attack have links with security agencies
Iraqi security forces stand guard outside the US Embassy in Baghdad. Photo: AFP
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Major General Yahya Rasoul, announced on Thursday the arrest of a few of the perpetrators of the attack on the US Embassy and the headquarters of the National Security Service, confirming their connection to some security agencies.
Rasoul mentioned in a statement that security officers, following intelligence efforts, managed to identify the perpetrators of the attack on the US Embassy in central Baghdad on December 7, according to the state news agency.
The military official elaborated that security forces arrested some of the perpetrators of the attack and are pursuing the others.
A security source in Baghdad told the AFP that the number of those arrested is 13, and some of them are serving in Iraqi security agencies.
The US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone was attacked on December 7 with several missiles. The attack left no casualties.
This attack was the first on the embassy since factions allied with Iran began launching attacks with drones and missiles against US and international coalition forces in Iraq and Syria in mid-October after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
Iran-backed factions are against US support for Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which began with an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian movement in Israel on October 7.
In a call with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Tuesday, the Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, affirmed Iraq’s commitment to protecting diplomatic missions and advisors.
Washington has deployed about 2,500 soldiers in Iraq within the framework of the international coalition to combat ISIS, who have been carrying out advisory missions since the end of 2021.
The United States also has about 900 soldiers in Syria.