1. Home
2. Middle East
3. Rockets Target Baghdad Airport Complex: Iraqi Authorities

Rockets targeted on Friday evening the Baghdad airport complex that hosts a military base and a US diplomatic facility, Iraqi authorities said.

Soon after, a shadowy group called Saraya Awliyaa al-Dam (Guardians of Blood), which claims to be part of the Tehran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said it was behind the attack on the base.

Security sources previously told AFP that drones had carried out the attack.

The Iraqi government's security media cell said in a statement that "at 8:20 pm (1720 GMT), a number of rockets were launched" from the Abu Ghraib district near Baghdad.

It added that several rockets "fell on empty areas far from Baghdad International Airport", though it did not specify whether they crashed in or near the military base.

A security official later told AFP that "two rockets and not drones" fell inside the base.

The attack did not cause casualties or significant material damage.

Several drones have been intercepted near Baghdad airport since the start of the war in the Middle East.

Explosion heard in Iraq's Erbil, smoke seen rising from hotel: AFP

A loud bang was heard on Friday evening in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, before smoke rose from a hotel in the city, an AFP journalist said.

The journalist saw smoke billowing from the upper floors of the Erbil Arjaan by Rotana hotel, and said firefighters had arrived at the scene.

Earlier, the United States warned that Iranian-backed fighters may target hotels in Kurdistan that are frequented by foreigners.

AFP