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US Embassy in Baghdad Hit in Missile Attack

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The US Embassy in Baghdad was targeted in a missile attack on Friday night, according to reports.

The missile struck a helipad at the embassy, the Associated Press reported.

Smoke was seen rising from the diplomatic mission in video posted on social media by Sabereen News, a pro-Iranian militia outlet in Iraq.

The attack took place shortly after two fighters belonging to an Iran-backed militant group were killed in Baghdad, AFP reported, citing sources.

The embassy is located in Baghdad’s heavily fortified “green zone.”

It’s unclear if anyone was injured in the attack. (Read more from “US Embassy in Baghdad Hit in Missile Attack” HERE)

Rockets Hit Near U.S. Embassy in Iraq

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Rockets hit near the U.S. Embassy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad early Sunday morning but left no American casualties, according to a military spokesperson.

The rockets targeted the Iraqi base hosting U.S. troops and coalition forces in Baghdad’s militarized Green Zone around 3:30 a.m., Colonel Myles B Caggins III, a U.S. military spokesperson, said in a statement. . .

The attack is the latest development as tensions in the region have risen following the U.S.’s killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani with a drone strike last month. In response to the Soleimani’s death, Iran on Jan. 8 launched missiles at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad Air Base resulting in 109 American troops suffering from traumatic brain injuries, Axios reported.

In December, the Baghdad Embassy was attacked by Iraqi supporters of Iranian-backed militias, causing fire damage and smashed windows to the outer region of the facility. U.S. military forces responded with tear gas and dispersed the crowd after days of demonstrations. (Read more from “Rockets Hit Near U.S. Embassy in Iraq” HERE)

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Missile Attack Hits U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

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By Breitbart. A barrage of rocket fire targeted Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone on Sunday, hitting part of the U.S. embassy complex in that country. Saudi Arabia’s al-Arabiya news agency noted that the American compound “has been regularly hit by rockets in recent months.”

Both the American and Iraqi governments have confirmed a rocket attack on the complex but offered little information regarding the attack. No country or non-state actor has taken responsibility for this round of attacks.

No reports of any deaths have surfaced and estimates as to the wounded range from one to three people. Early reports do not specify the extent of the physical damage to the compound.

CNN and the Agence France-Presse (AFP) both reported that the facility hit by the rocket fire was a dining area or cafe, both citing unnamed sources. AFP’s source claimed that five Katyusha rockets fell in the Green Zone – a highly secure neighborhood in the Iraqi capital that houses most foreign embassies and other important government buildings – and appeared to target the U.S. embassy, and as many as three may have landed. Iraq’s al-Sumaria News reported that one rocket hit the embassy compound.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, who resigned months ago but has not organized elections and appears to show no signs of leaving, issued a statement confirming and condemning the attack, and specifically confirming anonymous reports that rockets hit the U.S. embassy compound. He did not offer any suggestions regarding who could have organized the attack, nor did he suggest Iraq had arrested anyone in response to the rockets. (Read more from “Missile Attack Hits U.S. Embassy in Baghdad” HERE)

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Rockets ‘Hit U.S. Embassy’ in Iraq Capital Amid Anti-Gov’t Protests

By Al Jazeera. The US embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone came under attack from rocket fire on Sunday evening.

Five rockets crashed into a riverbank near the embassy in the Iraqi capital without causing any injuries, the US Joint Operations Command said in a statement, but AFP news agency citing a security source said three of the rockets “directly hit the US embassy”. One slammed into a cafeteria at dinner time, it added. . .

Meanwhile, one protester was killed in Baghdad, police sources told Reuters news agency, and more than 100 demonstrators were hurt in violence in the capital and several other cities after the security forces tried to clear sit-in protest camps.

Medical sources said 75 of those hurt were in the southern city of Nasiriyah, where a witness told Reuters protesters set fire to two security vehicles, and hundreds of other demonstrators controlled key bridges in the city.

The protesters are demanding the removal of what they consider a corrupt ruling elite and an end to foreign interference in Iraqi politics, especially by Iran. (Read more from “Rockets ‘Hit U.S. Embassy’ in Iraq Capital Amid Anti-Gov’t Protests” HERE)

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Three Americans Reportedly Kidnapped in Baghdad

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By Abigail Williams and Elisha Fieldstadt. The U.S. State Department was working Sunday to locate three Americans in Iraq after a report that they had been kidnapped in Baghdad.

Dubai-based news service Al Arabiya reported that three Americans had been kidnapped by “militias” in the Iraqi capital. The Arab news agency cited their own sources.

U.S. officials said they were looking into it.

“We are aware of reports that American citizens are missing in Iraq,” said State Department spokesman John Kirby. “We are working with the full cooperation of the Iraqi authorities to locate and recover the individuals. The safety and security of American citizens overseas is our highest priority.” (Read more from “Three Americans Reportedly Kidnapped in Baghdad” HERE)

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Beloved American Missionary Among 28 Killed in Al Qaeda Attack

By CNN Wire. An American who died in a terror attack in Burkina Faso moved halfway across the world with his wife to run an orphanage and women’s crisis center.

Michael James Riddering was one of 28 people killed after terrorists opened fire Friday night at a cafe in the capital, Ouagadougou.

The al Qaeda-linked militants then raided a luxury hotel across the street, shooting some and taking others hostage in an overnight siege that lasted hours.

Sheltering Wings, a missionary group that supports Riddering’s orphanage, provided a detailed account of his ordeal. It said the Florida resident and his wife, Amy Riddering, worked at the orphanage in Yako, 115 kilometers (70 miles) from the capital. (Read more from “Beloved American Missionary Among 28 Killed in Al Qaeda Attack” HERE)

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US wasted more than $200 million on Iraqi police training that Baghdad didn’t want or need

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Photo credit: DVIDSHUB

U.S. auditors have concluded that more than $200 million was wasted on a program to train Iraqi police that Baghdad says is neither needed nor wanted.

The Police Development Program– which was drawn up to be the single largest State Department program in the world — was envisioned as a five-year, multibillion-dollar push to train security forces after the U.S. military left last December. But Iraqi political leaders, anxious to keep their distance from the Americans, were unenthusiastic.

A report by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, to be released Monday, found that the American Embassy in Baghdad never got a written commitment from Iraq to participate. Now, facing what the report called Baghdad’s “disinterest” in the project, the embassy is gutting what was supposed to be the centerpiece of ongoing U.S. training efforts in Iraq.

According to the report, the embassy plans to turn over the $108 million Baghdad Police College Annex to Iraqis by the end of the year and will stop training at a $98 million site at the U.S. consulate in the southern city of Basra. Additionally, the number of advisers has been cut by nearly 90 percent — from 350 to 36.

“A major lesson learned from Iraq is that host country buy-in to proposed programs is essential to the long-term success of relief and reconstruction activities. The PDP experience powerfully underscores that point,” auditors wrote in a 41-page summary of their inspection. An advance copy was provided to The Associated Press.

Read more from this story HERE.