Illegal armed groups plan to target Baghdad International Airport

Shafaq News / strong intelligence indicated that illegal armed groups planned to target Baghdad International Airport with Katyusha missiles. A security source told Shafaq News Agency on Tuesday.

He concluded that “intelligence confirms that the missiles will be launched from areas near the highway within Al-Amel neighborhood or the agricultural areas in Al-Radwaniyah."

Washington blames such attacks on Iranian-backed groups. Iran has not directly commented on the incidents.

The Middle East came close to a large conflict in January after a U.S. drone strike killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis at Baghdad airport. Iran-aligned factions have “sworn to avenge their deaths.”

The U.S.-led coalition that is in Iraq to fight ISIS militants has begun to reduce troop numbers and moved soldiers into fewer bases. It says this is because Iraqi forces are now mostly able to fight ISIS remnants on their own.