Baghdad, September 16: U.S. and Iraqi forces have arrested three Iraqi men suspected of launching rockets on Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone district during a trip by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the U.S. military said on Wednesday.
Militants pounded the Green Zone with rockets and mortars on Tuesday shortly after Biden flew in for talks with Iraqi politicians on reconciliation. A mortar landed on an apartment block, killing two Iraqis and wounding five, police said.
Two others landed near the U.S. embassy, but there were no further reports of casualties. A press briefing with U.S. ambassador Chris Hill and U.S. military commander General Ray Odierno was repeatedly interrupted by nearby explosions.
The U.S. military said in a statement its forces, working with soldiers from an Iraqi army division, located the suspected launch site but were fired upon from a nearby house.
“As elements from the joint patrol manoeuvred against the small arms fire, a second group captured three Iraqi males and three rocket rails believed to have been used in the attack,” the statement said.
Rocket and mortar attacks on the Green Zone, which used to be a more or less daily occurrence 18 months ago, have become relatively rare in recent months.
U.S. and Iraqi officials say better policing and quicker responses to attacks have helped cut violence in Baghdad over that time period.
But incidents like Tuesday’s salvo and two truck bombs on Aug. 19 that killed 95 people at the foreign and finance ministries underline how fragile those security gains are.
Biden was to meet Iraqi officials on Wednesday to urge them to take advantage of better security to make progress on long-standing disputes between Kurdish, Sunni and Shi’ite communities over land, oil and power.
—Agencies