TEHRAN – Groups affiliated with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have claimed responsibility for rocket attacks on U.S. military bases.

The group Saraya Awliya al-Dam announced that its fighters launched a barrage of rockets at U.S. bases, including the “Victory Base” located near Baghdad International Airport. In a statement, the group said the strike targeted the “American occupying presence” at the base.

The faction said the attack was part of ongoing operations carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq against U.S. military positions across the country. 

At the same time, Iraqi air defenses reportedly intercepted a drone flying near the U.S. embassy inside Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone. An Iraqi security source also told Al Jazeera that the country’s air defenses are “confronting” another drone near the U.S. embassy in Baghdad. 

These operations, according to the Iraqi resistance groups, have intensified since the illegal joint U.S.–Israeli war against Iran. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for downing U.S. MQ-9 surveillance drones during this period.

In a statement, Saraya Awliya al-Dam said the attacks were carried out as a “religious duty” and in retaliation for the killing of senior figures and fighters within the resistance. The group specifically referred to the death of Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, describing him as a martyr and a religious authority whose assassination demanded retribution. 
The statement also said the attacks were meant to deter further assaults that have killed Iraqi resistance fighters.

Meanwhile, violence continued elsewhere in Iraq. Two members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were killed, and a member of the Federal Police was injured in what Iraqi media reported as a U.S.–Israeli attack on Jurf al-Nasr, an area southwest of Baghdad.

According to reports from Baghdad, the strike targeted PMF units stationed in the region. The area, formerly known as Jurf al-Sakhar, lies north of Babylon province and has long hosted security deployments by the PMF.

Explosions were also reported in Mosul, the largest city in Nineveh province in northern Iraq. Local sources suggested the blast may have been caused by an airstrike, though details about the target or casualties were not immediately clear.

The escalation follows the killing of several figures linked to Iraqi armed factions. On Sunday, the Iraqi movement Harakat al-Nujaba issued a statement announcing the death of Abu Ali al-Ameri, a commander in Kataib Hezbollah, along with several of his associates.

In a statement, Harakat al-Nujaba described the killings as the result of what it called a “cowardly Zionist-American betrayal”.

The group warned that the attack marked a turning point in its confrontation with U.S. and allied forces.

“The arrogant enemy has opened the gates of hell through its recklessness,” the statement said, adding that condemnation alone would not solace them. Instead, it said, the response would come “from the actions of men on the battlefield.”

The group also warned that it no longer considered itself bound by traditional “rules of engagement,” stating that retaliation would continue without limits if its leaders and fighters continued to be targeted.

The deaths of al-Ameri and his associates come after a series of deadly strikes in Iraq over recent days. Last week, about 22 soldiers were killed in a U.S. airstrike targeting PMF positions between Akashat and al-Qaim in Iraq’s western Anbar province.

In a separate incident early Saturday, three people were killed when a strike targeted a house belonging to a resistance faction in the Karrada district of central Baghdad.

These incidents occur amid an intensifying campaign by Iraqi resistance groups. They are targeting U.S. bases in Iraq and across the region as part of a broader strategy of deterrence and retaliation against the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The situation has raised concerns about a wider escalation in Iraq, where U.S. forces violate the country’s airspace to wage strikes, alongside the Zionist regime, against Iraq’s neighbor Iran.

Elsewhere, a security official told CNN on Saturday that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad had been attacked by two drones. The extent of the damage and whether there were any casualties were not immediately clear.

A video clip, whose location was verified by the American network, showed smoke rising and small flames coming from a building near the embassy complex.
Reports circulated on Saturday indicated that the U.S. embassy in Baghdad had been targeted in an attack aimed at its air-defense system. 

Local reports added that the embassy’s helicopter landing pad was also hit. Witnesses also reported that columns of smoke were rising from inside the embassy building following the attack.

According to Associated Press, citing Iraqi officials, “a rocket struck a helicopter landing pad within the U.S. Embassy complex.”

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Sabah al-Nu’man, said that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani continues to closely monitor and assess the situation following attacks that targeted sites belonging to units of the PMF. 

The attacks resulted in the deaths of soldiers who were carrying out their duties as part of the security forces across different operational sectors.

Al-Nu’man stressed that this repeated and systematic aggression, and the targeting of these locations and headquarters, is not just a military violation. Rather, he said, it represents an attempt to create chaos, undermine social stability, and weaken the security gains achieved through the sacrifices of Iraqis and the blood of those who were killed.

He emphasized that the blood of the soldiers is a trust borne by everyone, adding that the government “will not allow Iraq to become a battleground for settling scores or a stage for violating national dignity.”

Large crowds took part in funeral processions in Baghdad for members of the PMF. The PMF’s Authority stressed that “the blood of the martyrs will not be shed in vain.”

It said the attacks would not deter its members from continuing to carry out their national and constitutional duty to protect Iraq and its people. The Iraqi Army division added that its soldiers would remain “a strong fortress and a firm barrier against terrorism and anyone attempting to undermine Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty.”

The authority also called on all political forces to adopt a firm national stance and take clear measures to stop the repeated attacks targeting security forces, saying such actions directly violate the country’s sovereignty and the dignity of its security institutions.

Regarding the attacks, the authority clarified that the targeted headquarters “had no role in attacks against U.S. bases inside or outside Iraq.” It emphasized that those who were killed “were innocent soldiers performing their official duties,” noting that some of them had been stationed at the border to protect Iraq’s sovereignty and security.

By targeting the PMF, the United States risks dragging the huge force into the battlefield, which has so far been limited to the exchange of attacks between the occupying American forces and the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.