Blasts rock Baghdad’s Green Zone, reports say rockets struck in vicinity of US Embassy

Explosions have been reported in the heavily fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, hosting the US Embassy and other foreign diplomatic and military installations. Rockets reportedly fell near the US compound.

Several rockets were reportedly launched towards the US Embassy in Baghdad on Sunday evening, local media reported.

Videos have emerged online showing the moment missile alert sirens sounded in the city.

It was not immediately clear how many missiles struck in the proximity of the US diplomatic quarters, which has repeatedly come under rocket fire in recent months, with conflicting reports on social media indicating at least two projectiles might have hit the compound.

Security sources, cited by Reuters, reported that two missiles landed inside the Green Zone, including one that hit the ground near the embassy itself. No one has been hurt in the attack, they said.

The reports of the attack come less than an hour after Iraqi PM-designate Mohammed Allawi announced that he was withdrawing his candidacy from the race after his latest attempt to form a government on Sunday faltered due to the lack of quorum in the parliament. 

Allawi was hoping to break a months-long deadlock that saw Iraq engulfed in a wave of mass protests erupting in October and bringing down the cabinet of former PM Adel Abdul Mahdi two months later.

Announcing his decision to withdraw, Allawi blamed political parties who he accused of “placing obstacles” to forming an independent government for his failure to solve the political crisis.

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