The US embassy in Baghdad warned Thursday that pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq may attack the city in the coming one or two days.
Iraq has been dragged into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, with strikes targeting both US interests and pro-Iran groups in the country.
The US embassy in Baghdad, located in the centre of the city, has been repeatedly targeted, and on Thursday it warned of more attacks in central parts of the capital.
“Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24-48 hours,” the embassy said in a statement on X.
It repeated earlier advice for Americans in Iraq to leave.
The frequency of attacks in Iraq has decreased in recent days after the influential pro-Iran group Kateab Hezbollah declared a pause on March 19, which was twice extended. But the group did not announce a further extension on Wednesday night after its latest pause expired.
Last month Washington and Baghdad said they would “intensify cooperation” to prevent attacks and ensure Iraqi territory is not used to launch assaults against US facilities.
But the US embassy statement Thursday said “the Iraqi government has not prevented terrorist attacks in or from Iraqi territory”.
“Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups may claim to be associated with the Iraqi government,” it added.
Former Iraqi paramilitary alliance Hashed al-Shaabi — also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces — is a sprawling coalition of armed groups that are now part of Iraq’s regular army, but they contain pro-Iran factions who have a reputation for acting independently.
These factions and the PMF have been targeted by strikes since the outbreak of war and have blamed the US and Israel.
The Pentagon has said helicopters have carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the war. Washington has strongly denied claims it has targeted Iraqi security forces.
A strike on Wednesday against a PMF position in northwestern Iraq — which the PMF blamed on the US and Israel — killed three fighters.
The US embassy in its statement urged US citizens in Iraq to leave immediately, warning that “terrorist militias have targeted Americans for kidnapping”.
On Tuesday evening an American journalist, named by her employer and media advocacy groups as Shelly Kittleson, was abducted in Baghdad.
A suspect has been detained in connection with the kidnapping, and an Iraqi security official told AFP the man had links to Kataeb Hezbollah.
Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region in the north has also not been spared the violence.
Security sources told AFP that at least 30 drones targeted the Erbil and Duhok governorates overnight, but there were no casualties reported.
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