Handover ceremony of U.S.-led coalition forces to Iraqi security forces as part of a drawdown of forces in Nineveh, Iraq. (Photo: Reuters)
Baghdad, December 27 (RHC)-- An improvised explosive device has targeted a convoy of trucks belonging to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq’s central province of Babil, but the blast did not cause any casualties or damage.
A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Iraq’s Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network that the attack took place on the Babil international road on Sunday morning when the roadside bomb went off near a vehicle belonging to a convoy carrying logistics for the U.S.-led forces. No group has so far claimed responsibility.
The development came only two days after a driver was wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of trucks belonging to the US-led coalition forces near the central-southern Iraqi city of al-Diwaniyah.
A brief statement from the Security Media Cell, affiliated with the country’s security forces, said the roadside bomb went off near a vehicle belonging to an Iraqi company contracted with the coalition troops.
Later in the day, a security source, who asked not to be named, told al-Sumaria television network that a convoy carrying logistics for US-led forces had been targeted on the international highway in the city of Samawah, located 280 kilometers (174 miles) southeast of the capital Baghdad.
Separately, two bomb attacks struck supply convoys for U.S.-led forces in Babil and Dhi Qar provinces. There were no reports of damage or injuries though.
A senior Iraqi lawmaker says reports of the US bid to shut down its embassy in Baghdad following recent rocket attacks are “groundless” rumors aimed at forcing the Iraqi government to give in to Washington’s demands.
Anti-U.S. sentiment has been running high in Iraq since the assassination of top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and an Iraqi colleague Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, along with their companions in a U.S. terror drone strike authorized by President Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport on January 3rd.
Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill two days later, demanding the withdrawal of all foreign military forces led by the United States from the country. Currently, there are approximately 3,000 U.S troops in Iraq.
