U.S. consulate in Iraq under rocket attack
A U.S. diplomatic outpost and major regional airport near the southwest Iraqi city of Basra was the target of a rocket attack early Friday morning, amid continuing violent civil unrest in the oil-rich city.
Eyewitnesses in the Abusheir district, north of the city, told CNN that two rockets were fired toward the secure compound at Basra airport, where the U.S. consulate was located, in the early hours of Friday morning.
Witnesses report the rockets fell outside the outer security perimeter of the compound, with no casualties coming from the attack.
A State Department spokesperson told CNN that no consulate staff were harmed during the incident and the consulate itself was not hit, adding that U.S. diplomats in Baghdad and Washington were continuing to monitor the situation.
Beginning in July, hundreds of protesters have descended on city of Basra, demanding much-needed government services and lambasting the rampant corruption they say plagues the regime of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
Basra is one of the top two sources of petroleum revenues for Baghdad, second only to oil-rick Kirkuk in Northern.
