On January 13, Thursday, a rocket attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone. During this rocket attack, a woman and child were injured, as per the primary information by the Iraq’s military.
Iraq’s security media cell, the rockets were launched by the south of the capital city into the fortified international zone. One such rocket was dropped on the school and injured a child.
The rocket attacks were resumed, last week, after months-long break. Reportedly they were restarted following Biden administration’s order to withdraw US’s combat forces from Iran, within a year.
After the attack, a statement was shared by the spokesperson of Pentagon, John Kirby. He said, “We have conducted an initial inquiry and it revealed that just a small number of rockets were fired, the damage assessment was still underway.”
“We’ll do whatever it takes to safeguard our people,” Pentagon spokesperson said, adding that “The strikes are clearly aimed to injure, not kill our people.”
“We’ve made it clear to the Iraqi authorities through different mediums that how seriously we’re taking this,” he said.
Later, a statement was released by US Embassy in Baghdad, accusing the ‘terrorist groups’ for the rocket attacks. In the statement, the embassy mentioned that the group have been trying to sabotage our international relations, Iraq’s security and sovereignty.”
The attack was criticized by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The UNICEF representative, Sheema SenGupta, said that “A child being hurt is a child too many”. She further wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.
She added, “Every Iraqi kid has a right to live their lives without any violence related threat.”
Elaf school in #Baghdad was hit by a rocket today.
While the extent of the damage is being ascertained, attacks on students, teachers, schools and universities are unacceptable.#EducationUnderAttack @UNICEFiraq
— Sheema SenGupta (@ShSenGupta) January 13, 2022