World
07:46, 07-Sep-2018
Mortar attack on Baghdad's Green Zone near US embassy
Updated
07:06, 10-Sep-2018
["china"]
Share
Copied
Three mortar shells landed inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone just after midnight local time on Friday, the Iraqi military said in a statement.
The shells hit an "abandoned lot" causing "no casualties or physical damage," the statement said.
The US State Department confirmed there was a mortar attack near the US embassy in Iraq, and the US staff are "taking precautions."
A security source inside the Green Zone said the mortars landed near the Egyptian embassy.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, March 31, 2016. /VCG Photo
Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, March 31, 2016. /VCG Photo
The Green Zone houses parliament, government buildings and many foreign embassies. The area was regularly targeted by mortars during the US occupation of Iraq that ended in 2011.
The attack is the first of its kind in several years which comes after days of intensifying protests in Iraq's southern oil hub city of Basra.
(Top image: File photo from Reuters)