Bomb blast targets US military convoy in Baghdad

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): An explosion has reportedly targeted a US military convoy west of Iraq's capital.

An Iraqi security source said that the explosion occurred on Saturday as the convoy was moving on a highway near al-Ghazaliyah neighborhood in the western part of Baghdad.

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official also confirmed the blast, saying it was a roadside bomb explosion that targeted a convoy of trucks carrying military equipment belonging to US troops.

It was not immediately clear if there were any US troops in the convoy or if anyone had been injured in the explosion.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion.

The explosion took place a day after the media office of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said a roadside bomb struck a convoy of trucks carrying logistical equipment belonging to the US-led coalition forces in Aweirij, an area on the southern edge of Baghdad, burning one of the convoy trucks and killing its driver.

The blasts come amid strained relations between Baghdad and Washington and heightened anti-US sentiments in Iraq after the United States assassinated top Iranian commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and the second-in-command of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in early January upon an order by President Donald Trump.

Following the attack, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously approved a bill on January 5, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign troops.

Baghdad and Washington are currently in talks over the withdrawal of American troops.

Iraqi resistance groups have vowed to take up arms against US forces if Washington fails to comply with the parliamentary order.

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