The drone strike targeted the Iraqi intelligence service’s headquarters in an upscale residential neighborhood in central Baghdad. The drone bombardment killed one officer.
“A drone targeted the headquarters of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in Mansour district” at around 10:00 a.m. local time, General Saad Maan, head of the Iraqi government’s security media unit, said in a brief statement. AFPSaturday (21/3/2026).
An Iraqi security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said earlier that the attack targeted a “telecommunications building” where the National Intelligence Service is located, which is working with United States (US) advisers in Iraq as part of the international anti-jihadist coalition.
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT
Another drone, which filmed the operation, crashed into a private sports club popular with Iraqi elites and foreign diplomats, according to the same source.
In the latest report, an Iraqi officer was killed in a drone strike that targeted an Iraqi intelligence service building in a residential neighborhood of Baghdad, the agency said.
“One officer has been killed,” Iraqi intelligence said in a statement condemning “terrorist attacks carried out by rogue elements”. A security official and an Iraqi emergency services source reported that another officer was injured.
Iraq has unwittingly been drawn into the regional conflict sparked by the US-Israel attack on its neighboring country, Iran, on February 28.
The attacks target Iran-backed groups, which in turn claim almost daily attacks against US interests, mostly in Iraq but also across the wider region.
A fighter from the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary coalition was killed on Friday (20/3) evening, in an attack on a military airfield in northern Iraq. The group blamed the attack on the US and Israel.
On Thursday (19/3), the Pentagon acknowledged for the first time that helicopter gunships had carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the latest conflict.
Throughout the night from Friday (20/3) to Saturday (21/3), at least three drone attacks targeted the US diplomatic and logistics center housing US military personnel at Baghdad International Airport, according to two security officials. One official said a fire broke out near the base after the third attack.
Page 2 of 2
(rfs/inc)