ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday issued an urgent travel advisory for Iraq, instructing all American citizens to leave the country immediately, citing “indiscriminate” attacks by Iran-aligned “terrorist militias” against citizens and targets across Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region. The advisory came hours after its building in the Iraqi capital was reportedly hit in a missile attack.
In a statement on X, the embassy said that “Iran-aligned terrorist militias have encouraged and carried out indiscriminate attacks on U.S. citizens and targets associated with the United States across Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR),” urging that “U.S. citizens should leave Iraq now.”
The embassy further noted the repeated attacks by Iran-backed armed groups against the International Zone - commonly known as the Green Zone, which houses government institutions, diplomatic missions, and United Nations offices - as well as areas around Erbil International Airport and the consulate building in the Kurdish capital.
“Do not attempt to come to the embassy in Baghdad or the consulate general in Erbil due to the ongoing risk of missiles, drones, and rockets in Iraqi airspace,” the American diplomatic mission firmly instructed.
The warning came hours after the US embassy building in Baghdad came under “a missile attack,” Reuters reported, citing “Iraqi security sources,” who said “the attack caused smoke to rise from the embassy building,” without providing details on the extent of the damage.
Iraqi social media users circulated video footage depicting a fire that reportedly blazed through defense systems atop the embassy building in Baghdad.
Footage shows smoke rising in Baghdad, reportedly from the US Embassy compound. A security source told AFP the attack was carried out by a drone. pic.twitter.com/XzpdAW2J12
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) March 14, 2026
The attack on the US embassy complex in Baghdad notably came shortly after a missile struck a house used by the powerful Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah armed group in the Iraqi capital at dawn on Saturday, killing one person and wounding two others, a security source told Agence France Presse (AFP).
The security source added that “a key figure” from Kata’ib Hezbollah was killed, without naming him, and that two members of the group were wounded.
The escalation in Iraq comes as the US-Israeli campaign against Iran entered its fifteenth day on Saturday, with the stated aim of dismantling Tehran’s security structure. Around 6,000 targets across Iran have been struck since the start of the operation on February 28, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) reported on Thursday.
Iran, in response, said last week it launched more than 2,000 drones and over 600 missiles targeting US and Israeli positions across the region.
The Iranian response also involved attacks by Iraqi armed groups aligned with the Iran-led ‘Axis of Resistance,’ including lesser-known militias claiming retaliation against alleged US assets in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Of note, the Region has been bombarded with more than 300 drones and missiles, according to Rudaw monitoring. As a result, seven people have been killed and 35 others injured.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), responsible for most attacks on US assets, stated on Saturday that it “carried out 27 operations over the past 24 hours, using dozens of drones and missiles targeting enemy bases in Iraq and the region.” By comparison, the IRI reported only 13 attacks in a 24-hour period on Thursday, signaling potential further escalation.
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