US summons Iraqi ambassador over drone strike on diplomatic facility in Baghdad

By Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, April 9 (Reuters) – U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau summoned Iraqi Ambassador Nizar Khirullah on Thursday after a drone struck a major U.S. diplomatic facility in Baghdad, the State Department said in a statement.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said earlier that Iraqi “terrorist militias,” who Washington accused of being aligned with Iran, had conducted multiple drone attacks near the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center and Baghdad International Airport on Wednesday.

The State Department said Landau acknowledged the Iraqi security forces’ efforts to respond while emphasizing “the Iraqi government’s failure to prevent these attacks.”

The State Department said Washington expects the Iraqi government to take measures to dismantle Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq.

It also said that “some elements associated with the Iraqi government continue to actively provide political, financial, and operational cover for the militias.”

Dozens of people have been killed in Iraq since the start of the Iran war, according to Iraqi health authorities. Those include civilians, members of the Iran-affiliated Shi’ite Popular Mobilisation Forces, U.S.-allied Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, police and army.

The Iran war began when the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with U.S. bases. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran on Tuesday, which has remained fragile. The U.S. president had previously threatened to destroy Iran’s entire civilization in remarks that were widely condemned.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis and Jasper Ward in Washington; Editing by David Ljunggren and Raju Gopalakrishnan)