Baghdad command cites expanded security measures, says diplomatic missions ‘safe’

BAGHDAD — Baghdad Operations Command assured diplomatic missions Thursday that the capital remains stable and secure, as Kataib Hezbollah announced a conditional five-day suspension of attacks on the U.S. Embassy.

“Our message to diplomatic missions in Baghdad is that they are safe, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, and all locations are fully secured,” Operations Command head Walid Khalifa said, adding that forces have focused deployments on areas from which indirect fire could be launched. He called on citizens not to “be drawn behind rumors that provide false information about attacks.”

The announcement came a day after Kataib Hezbollah said its secretary-general had ordered a halt to operations targeting the U.S. Embassy for five days, conditional on Israel ceasing its bombardment of southern Beirut, the U.S. refraining from striking residential areas in Baghdad and other provinces, and CIA personnel remaining inside the embassy compound. The group warned that any violation would trigger “direct and concentrated” retaliation and signaled the pace of attacks would increase once the five-day period ends.

The conditions were set by Abu Mujahid al-Assaf, the figure named this week as successor to Kataib Hezbollah security chief Abu Ali al-Askari, who was killed in an airstrike on a house in Baghdad’s Arasat area. Hours after the announcement, airstrikes hit PMF positions in Nineveh, with the group blaming the United States and Israel.

The assurances from the Operations Command follow a pattern familiar since the regional war began Feb. 28. The U.S. Embassy has been targeted multiple times. The Al-Rasheed Hotel, housing the Saudi embassy and the EU Advisory Mission, was hit Monday night. The UAE Consulate General in Erbil has been targeted twice in a week. Each attack has drawn condemnations and pledges from Iraqi authorities to pursue those responsible. The strikes have continued regardless.