US State Department says ‘outraged’ by rocket attack in Baghdad

The United States is “outraged” by Monday’s rocket attack in the Iraqi capital Baghdad that killed five civilians, US State Department said on Tuesday, urging Iraqi authorities to take immediate action to hold the perpetrators accountable.

“We have made the point before that the actions of lawless Iran-backed militias remains the single biggest deterrent tostability in Iraq,” Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

On Monday, the Iraqi army said that three Iraqi children and two women from the same family were killed when a rocket targeting Baghdad airport, where US troops are stationed, fell instead on their home.

The Trump administration has warned Iraq that it will close its embassy in Baghdad if the government does not take swift and decisive action to end persistent rocket and other attacks by Iranian-backed militias and rogue armed elements on American and allied interests in the country, US, Iraqi and other officials said Monday.