Attack on the United States embassy in Baghdad
The U.S. embassy in the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq, was attacked on 31 December 2019 by Kata'ib Hezbollah militiamen and their Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) supporters and sympathizers.
[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The attack was prompted by the U.S. airstrikes on 29 December 2019 that targeted weapons depots and command and control installations of Kata'ib Hezbollah across Iraq and Syria.
The U.S. responded by sending hundreds of additional troops to the Persian Gulf region, including approximately 100 U.S. Marines to reinforce security at the Baghdad embassy.
On 29 December 2019, retaliatory U.S. airstrikes targeted five Kata'ib Hezbollah —and therefore PMF— weapon storage facilities and command and control locations in Iraq and Syria.
[19] Iraq's prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi condemned the airstrikes while U.S. special envoy Brian Hook said the strikes were a message directed at Iran.
[24][25][26][27] As the fire broke out, an AP reporter on the scene observed at least half a dozen U.S. Marine Security Guardsmen and Diplomatic Security Service personnel on the roof of the main embassy building with their guns trained on the intruders,[2] many of whom were wearing militia uniforms; the intruders stopped in a corridor after about 5 meters (16 feet), and were about 200 meters away from the main embassy building.
"[25] Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would later identify Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Qais Khazali, Falih Alfayyadh, and Hadi al-Amiri as leaders of the attack on the embassy.
"[31] U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo named then-Popular Mobilization Forces deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais Khazali and PMF commander Hadi al-Amiri (both of which were present at the embassy attack), and PMF chairman Falih Alfayyadh as responsible for the attack; al-Amiri and Alfayyadh were reportedly guests to the White House during the Obama administration.
[36] On 2 January 2020, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said "the game has changed" and stated that the U.S. would preemptively strike Iranian-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq if there were indications they were preparing to attack U.S. forces, while also urging the Iraqi government to resist Iranian influence.
U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley emphasized that any group that attempted to overrun the Baghdad embassy will "run into a buzzsaw.
[47] According to some media sources, Pompeo informed Baghdad that it would target 120 sites in Iraq linked to Iran-backed militias if rocket attacks cost American lives.
