Rocket attack hits Kataib Hezbollah-linked site in Baghdad

A rocket strike hit a house used as a command headquarters for the Popular Mobilisation Forces in the Karrada district of Baghdad, killing one of the formation’s commanders and injuring two others.

According to Shafaq News and Al Arabiya, the attack occurred on Friday, March 13, at around 23:15 GMT in the upscale Karrada neighbourhood. The rocket struck a house in the Al-Arasat area that was being used as a headquarters linked to the Kataib Hezbollah brigades.

Sources said the strike killed Abu Ali al-Amiri, described as one of the key figures within the formation, while two injured individuals were taken to the hospital.

A separate security source confirmed that a projectile had fallen on the house in the Al-Arasat area of Karrada, where facilities belonging to Iraqi armed groups loyal to Iran are located. Authorities have not yet determined the type of munition used in the strike.

Witnesses reported hearing powerful explosions, followed by the sound of ambulance sirens. Thick smoke was seen rising over part of central Baghdad.

Iraqi sources also reported another incident in the city — a strike on a vehicle in the Al-Rusafa district in eastern Baghdad that killed one person. Residents of the nearby Zayouna neighborhood said the blast was so strong that it shook their homes.

Separately, Iraqi sources said security forces intercepted drones that were attempting to target a US base in Erbil.

Since the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, several strikes have targeted bases of groups loyal to Tehran within the Popular Mobilisation Forces. Based on statements from the formations and sources within them, at least 22 fighters have been killed in those attacks.

Some of the strikes, believed to have been carried out by the United States, reportedly targeted positions of armed groups associated with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Since the beginning of the conflict, these groups have claimed responsibility for launching rocket and drone attacks against American bases in Iraq and elsewhere in the region.

For years, Iraq has remained a battleground for influence between Washington and Tehran. Following the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqi authorities have sought to balance their relations with both sides.

With the escalation of the current conflict, Baghdad has been drawn into a confrontation over which it has little control and in which it does not play a direct role. Iraqi officials have repeatedly stressed the importance of preventing the country from becoming further entangled in the escalating regional crisis.

By Tamilla Hasanova