{"id":34832,"date":"2020-01-27T19:56:45","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T19:56:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/27\/nighttime-mortar-attack-on-us-embassy-in-baghdad-injured-1\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:09:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:09:24","slug":"nighttime-mortar-attack-on-us-embassy-in-baghdad-injured-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/2020\/01\/27\/nighttime-mortar-attack-on-us-embassy-in-baghdad-injured-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Nighttime mortar attack on US Embassy in Baghdad injured 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
This week: lighter bullets for the Marine Corps, Iran names the new head of the Quds Force, a 500-plus-pound ISIS is leader caught and more.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

BAGHDAD \u2014 A top U.S. commander said on Monday mortars were used in an attack on the American embassy in Baghdad that injured one person and caused some material damage the previous night, not katyusha rockets as was initially reported by staffers and a statement from the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gen. Frank McKenzie, a top U.S. commander for the Middle East<\/a>, told reporters traveling with him that the mortar attack started a fire that was put out. He said no U.S. military members were injured, but that one U.S. national received a minor injury but has returned to work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two staff members of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media, said initially it had been rockets that slammed into a restaurant inside the American compound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi received a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in which they condemned the embassy attack and discussed measures to strengthen Iraqi forces responsible for protecting diplomatic missions and procedures to prevent similar attack, according to a statement from the premier\u2019s office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Embassy is within the Iraqi capital\u2019s Green Zone<\/a>, and has been a flashpoint amid wider regional tensions between the U.S. and Iran, which have played out inside Iraq in recent weeks. Iraqi supporters of an Iran-backed militia stormed the embassy compound<\/a> on Dec. 31, smashing the main door and setting fire to the reception area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Baghdad
Protesters set fire to close a street during clashes between security forces and anti-government protesters near Baghdad’s Khilani square, Iraq, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2020. (Khalid Mohammed\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Violence between Iraqi security forces and anti-government protesters also continued to seethe overnight, with one protester shot dead in a violent crackdown in the country\u2019s south. Unrest was also ongoing in the capital, with new clashes erupting Monday near the central Khilani and Wathba squares, where security forces fired tear gas and live bullets to disperse crowds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embassies from 16 Western countries, including the U.S., issued a joint statement condemning the \u201cexcessive and lethal use of force\u201d by Iraqi security forces and armed groups over the past three days against \u201cpeaceful protesters, including in Baghdad, Nasiriyah and Basra.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement called on the government to investigate all reported deaths of protesters since Oct. 1, when the unrest began.<\/p>\n\n\n\t