Iraq arrests 14, including Iranian, over rocket attacks

BAGHDAD

The Iraqi army arrested 14 suspects for allegedly firing rockets at the capital Baghdad's airport and heavily guarded diplomatic "Green Zone," the Iraqi joint operations command said in a statement Friday.

The statement did not specify whether the suspects were members of a larger organization. However, a security source told Anadolu Agency that they belonged to an armed group known as the Hezbollah Brigades.

The source added that the arrest took place in southern Baghdad and that one of the suspects was an Iranian national.

The army's statement added that the arrest was based on intelligence that the group had previously targeted the Green Zone and Baghdad International Airport with gunfire and rockets.

It added that a special investigation committee was formed by the Interior Ministry to complete the investigation on the suspects.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi previously pledged to stop rocket attacks targeting US soldiers and diplomats in Iraq.

Several US officials have repeatedly accused the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, which operates under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces (Hashd al-Shaabi), of rocket attacks on military bases that host US troops and other facilities in Iraq.

Such attacks have increased since the US assassinated Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad in early January.

Soleimani was killed on Jan. 3 when US drones struck his vehicle in Baghdad, triggering Tehran to retaliate with missile attacks on Iraqi bases housing US soldiers. on Jan. 8.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara