Iraq has denied reports that a rocket landed near the Baghdad International Airport on Sunday night.
“Several media outlets reported the fall of a Katyusha rocket near the Baghdad International Airport terminal”, tweeted the security media cell of the office of Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi.
“We deny this news completely, and the Baghdad Operations Command did not indicate any missile launches until 0050 hours, and we call on the media to be accurate and to take information exclusively from the security media cell”.
The statement followed a report by Al Sumaria TV which cited a security source who alleged that “one rocked landed in the vicinity of the Baghdad International Airport” without an explosion or victims. Earlier Al Sumaria reported that on Sunday, the US air defence system managed to repel a rocket attack targeting the American embassy. According to the report, the rocket landed on a residential building near the embassy, injuring one child. The incident was confirmed by the security media cell, which claimed that Iraqi security forces were able to "thwart another attack" in the Umm al-Azam area.
The American Patriot air defence system was earlier tested by US forces in Baghdad’s “green zone” which hosts the country’s governmental buildings and international embassies, including the American one. The testing was condemned by some Iraqi lawmakers as a “provocation” and a “violation of international law”.