Washington says Baghdad failed to ‘protect’ Americans

WASHINGTON – Washington accuses Iraqi authorities of failing to “protect” US interests, the day after deadly American air strikes against a pro-Iran militia spark a Tuesday attack on the US embassy in Baghdad.

At least 25 fighters were killed in Sunday night’s attacks, which were in retaliation for the death last week of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack by the militia.

“We have warned the Iraqi government many times, and we’ve shared information with them to try to work with them to carry out their responsibility to protect us,” a senior US State Department official tells reporters in Washington.

He notes that the US military and diplomats are in the country “upon the invitation of the Iraqi government. So it’s their responsibility and duty to protect us. And they have not taken the appropriate steps to do so,” he says.

Multiple attacks have in recent weeks targeted Iraqi bases where Americans are present. The United States has blamed the attacks on pro-Iran factions.

On Sunday, the US-led air strikes were directed at several bases belonging to the Hezbollah Brigades, one of the most radical factions of Hashed al-Shaabi, a Tehran-backed Iraqi paramilitary coalition. The strikes “killed 25 and wounded 51,” according to the Hashed, which holds major sway in Iraq. The attack was in retaliation for the death Friday of a US civilian contractor in Kirkuk in a Hezbollah Brigades rocket attack.

— AFP