AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Three children and two women, from the same family, have been killed in a Katyusha rocket launch targeting a residential building near the Baghdad International Airport, the army says.
According to Press TV, in a statement, Iraq’s military condemned the rocket attack, which also severely wounded two other children, on Monday.
No group has claimed responsibility for the assault, which, according to the Iraqi military, was carried out by ‘criminal gangs and groups of outlaws’ seeking to create chaos and terrorize people.
The rocket was apparently aimed at where American troops are stationed, but it fell instead on the ill-fated house, which was almost completely destroyed, Reuters quoted unnamed police sources as saying.
It was launched from the Jihad neighborhood, the AP reported.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, as the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, has ordered the identification and arrest of the perpetrators, saying “these gangs will not be allowed to go around and tamper with security” with impunity.
The Monday attack, the latest in a string of similar assaults targeting the American interests in Iraq, was conducted against the backdrop of Washington’s threat to shut down its diplomatic mission and pull out its 3,000 troops unless such rocket launches halt.
Previous such attacks have been claimed by murky groups, which say they are acting against the ‘American occupier.’
According to a tally by the AFP, between October 2019 and July, at least 39 rocket attacks targeted those interests in Iraq.
The rocket attacks, which commenced about a year ago, have so far caused few casualties, excluding the Monday incident, which has been the first to claim several civilian lives.
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29 September 2020 - 06:22
News ID: 1074278
Three children and two women, from the same family, have been killed in a Katyusha rocket launch targeting a residential building near the Baghdad International Airport, the army says.
