U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Hit After Strikes on Iran-Backed Militia

Overview

• Drones and possible rockets targeted the U.S. embassy compound in Baghdad’s Green Zone, with smoke seen over the complex in the second such attack since late February.
• Hours earlier, strikes hit Kata'ib Hezbollah locations in the capital, killing at least two members — later updated by some officials to three, including commander Abu Ali al-Amiri — and a separate strike on a vehicle left one person dead.
• The United States is sending the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli and roughly 2,500 Marines to the Middle East, expanding a force already estimated at about 50,000 personnel.
• Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry says it intercepted more than 20 drones in its airspace, while Turkey reported NATO air defenses downed a third Iranian ballistic missile over its territory.
• France confirmed a soldier was killed in a drone attack near Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, and authorities in Europe and the U.S. reported a rise in attacks and threats against Jewish and American targets.