US diplomatic facility in Baghdad attacked, no casualties, embassy says

PHOTO CAPTION: Members of Iraqi federal police are seen with military vehicles in a street in Baghdad, Iraq October 7, 2019. REUTERS/Wissm al-Okili

BAGHDAD (Reuters) -A United States diplomatic facility in Baghdad came under attack late on Tuesday but there are no reports of casualties and a damage assessment is underway, a U.S. embassy spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday.

Security sources told Reuters two rockets had fallen at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday near U.S. forces stationed near Baghdad airport at the Camp Victory base.

"At approximately 23:00 on Tuesday, September 10, there was an attack at the Baghdad Diplomatic Services Compound, a U.S. diplomatic facility," the U.S. embassy statement said.

"Fortunately, there are no reported casualties, and we are assessing the damage and its cause. Our assessment is ongoing," it said.

Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq's Iran-backed armed factions, said the timing of the attack was clearly designed to disrupt a visit to Iraq by Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian that began on Wednesday.

The group called on Iraqi security forces in a statement issued early on Wednesday to investigate the attack and to determine who was responsible.

Pezeshkian, on his first foreign trip since being elected in July, is expected to sign a number of bilateral agreements with Baghdad and to discuss the Gaza war and the wider situation in the Middle East with Iraqi leaders.

Iraq, a rare regional partner of both the United States and Iran, hosts 2,500 U.S. troops and also has Iran-backed armed factions linked to its security forces.

Iran-aligned armed groups in Iraq have repeatedly attacked U.S. troops in the Middle East since the Gaza war began.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari; Editing by Sandra Maler and Gareth Jones)