The US embassy in Baghdad warned Thursday that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq may attack the city in the coming one or two days.
Iraq has been dragged into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, with strikes targeting both US interests and pro-Iran groups in the country.
The US embassy in Baghdad, located in the centre of the city, has been repeatedly targeted, and on Thursday it warned of more attacks in central parts of the capital.
“Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours,” the embassy said in a statement on X.
In a response late Thursday, the Iraqi foreign ministry said it was “exerting maximum effort to prevent any escalation”, including strengthening security to protect foreign and diplomatic interests as well as maintaining internal stability.
The frequency of attacks in Iraq has decreased in recent days after the influential pro-Iran group Kataeb Hezbollah declared a pause on March 19, which was twice extended. But the group did not announce a further extension on Wednesday night after its latest pause expired.
Last month Washington and Baghdad said they would “intensify cooperation” to prevent attacks and ensure Iraqi territory is not used to launch assaults against US facilities.
But the US embassy statement Thursday said “the Iraqi government has not prevented terrorist attacks in or from Iraqi territory”.
“Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups may claim to be associated with the Iraqi government,” it added.
Former Iraqi paramilitary alliance Hashed al-Shaabi — also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces — is a coalition of armed groups that are now part of Iraq’s regular army, but they also contain pro-Iran factions who have a reputation for acting independently.
These factions and the PMF have been targeted by strikes since the outbreak of war and have blamed the US and Israel.
The Pentagon has said helicopters have carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the war. Washington has strongly denied claims it has targeted Iraqi security forces.
The US embassy in its statement also urged Americans in Iraq to leave immediately, warning “terrorist militias have targeted Americans for kidnapping”.
On Tuesday evening an American journalist, named by her employer and media advocacy groups as Shelly Kittleson, was abducted in Baghdad.
A suspect has been detained in connection with the kidnapping, and an Iraqi security official told AFP the man had links to Kataeb Hezbollah.
The US embassy later reposted the State Department’s “Rewards for Justice” account, which had posted offering $3 million for information on pro-Iran attacks, appealing in Arabic for help to “stop the terrorist attacks”.
On Thursday evening, the US diplomatic and logistics centre — located in the airport complex in western Baghdad — was targeted by two drones, security sources said, but no casualties were reported.
Autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan has also not been spared the violence. Erbil governor Omed Khoshnaw said Thursday since the start of the war more than 500 attacks had targeted the region.
Security sources told AFP that at least 30 drones targeted the Erbil and Duhok governorates overnight, but there were no casualties reported.
