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Baghdad: A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, while a strike killed four people at a house reportedly hosting Iranian advisors, security officials said, pulling Iraq deeper into the Middle East war.<\/strong><\/p>\n An AFP journalist reported seeing black smoke rising after an explosion in the embassy complex, as well as air defences intercepting another drone.<\/p>\n The strikes came hours after air defences thwarted a rocket attack at the embassy and a drone sparked a fire at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign diplomats in Baghdad\u2019s fortified Green Zone.<\/p>\n Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, with strikes targeting Iran-backed groups that have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a strike on a house in Baghdad killed four people early Tuesday, with initial reports suggesting that two of the dead were \u201cIranian advisors\u201d to Tehran-backed groups, a security source told AFP.<\/p>\n Another source from an Iran-backed faction confirmed that four people were killed in the strike on a house hosting Iranian advisors in al-Jadiriyah neighbourhood.<\/p>\n The attacks came shortly after the powerful Tehran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group announced that its senior security commander Abu Ali al-Askari had been killed, without providing details on the circumstances of his death.<\/p>\n Iraq\u2019s interior ministry initially said that a \u201cprojectile\u201d fell on the roof of the luxury al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad\u2019s heavily fortified Green Zone, before clarifying that it was a drone. It did not specify whether the building itself was the target.<\/p>\n \u201cThe incident caused no casualties or material damage,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n A street leading to the hotel, which hosts diplomatic missions including the US embassy, was blocked by a large security deployment, with firefighters and ambulances present, according to an AFP correspondent.<\/p>\n Witnesses saw a fire break out on the roof of the hotel.<\/p>\n Shortly after the hotel incident, a loud blast was heard in Baghdad, as air defences were seen intercepting an attack over the US embassy, an AFP journalist said.<\/p>\n A security official told AFP \u201cair defences thwarted an attack with four rockets\u201d on the embassy.<\/p>\n Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, head of the armed forces, denounced the attacks \u2014 including a strike on a southern oil field \u2014 calling them threats to his country\u2019s \u201csecurity and stability\u201d.<\/p>\n He promised security services would \u201chunt down the perpetrators of these acts and bring them to justice immediately\u201d, according to a statement from his spokesman, Sabah al-Numan.<\/p>\n \u201cThese criminal acts have serious repercussions for our country and undermine the government\u2019s efforts toward reconstruction and prosperity.\u201d<\/p>\n Kataeb Hezbollah announced Monday \u201cthe martyrdom of Haj Abu Ali al-Askari\u201d, without providing any details on how and when he was killed.<\/p>\n A security official told AFP that \u201cAbu Ali al-Askari is Abu Ali al-Amiri, the commander who was killed in a strike on Baghdad on Saturday\u201d.<\/p>\n Kataeb Hezbollah referred to Askari as the group\u2019s security chief. He was also the spokesperson in charge of issuing all key statements in the group\u2019s name.<\/p>\n Drone and rocket attacks have also targeted oil fields and facilities.<\/p>\n Earlier Monday, two drones targeted the southern Majnoon oil field \u2014 which had already paused production \u2014 with the oil ministry spokesperson saying that one of the drones had hit a telecommunications tower.<\/p>\n A security official said a second drone had targeted the offices of a US firm, operating at the site.<\/p>\n In a separate incident in the west, eight Iraqi fighters from a former paramilitary coalition were also killed in strikes near the country\u2019s border with Syria.<\/p>\n The fighters belonged to the Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), which are now part of Iraq\u2019s regular army.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\u2013 Fighters killed, oil attack \u2013<\/h2>\n