US-led coalition denies conducting new Baghdad air strike

The US-led coalition fighting Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) has denied conducting new Baghdad air strikes near Camp Taji north of Baghdad after a report revealed otherwise.

Reacting to the report by Iraq’s PMF which said air strikes near the area killed six people and wounded three others, adding that none of its top leaders were killed, the coalition said it was not involved.

“FACT: the coalition @cjtfoir did not conduct airstrikes near Camp Taji (north of Baghdad) in recent days,” a spokesman of the coalition said on Twitter.

Earlier on Saturday, Iraq’s state television reported the attack was carried out by the US, and that it was targeting a convoy of an Iran-backed militia.

READ ALSO: US threatens war with Iraq after protesters attacked its Baghdad embassy

The US State Department had earlier ordered American citizens to immediately leave Iraq, citing danger in the aftermath of a U.S. airstrike which killed General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force.

In a statement issued on Friday, the Embassy specifically warned its citizens to avoid the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, which had been besieged by Iranian-backed militias on Thursday.

It also revealed that due to Iranian-backed militia attacks at the U.S. Embassy compound, all public consular operations are suspended until further notice warning that U.S. citizens should not approach the Embassy at least for the time being.

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