Basra airport targeted by rocket fire as violent protests grip Iraq
Attack follows torching of Iran’s consulate and brief abduction of oil workers by protesters angry at breakdown of local government services
Basra airport was targeted by rocket fire on Saturday after a night of protests over perceived misrule by Iraq’s political elite during which demonstrators torched the Iranian consulate and briefly took oilfield workers hostage.
Iraqi security sources said three Katyusha rockets fired by unknown assailants had hit the perimeter of the airport, although no damage or casualties had been reported. The US consulate is near Basra’s airport.
An official at the Iraqi airport said there was no disruption to operations, and flights were taking off and landing as normal.
The attack came soon after a citywide curfew was lifted and hours after the reopening of Iraq’s main seaport of Umm Qasr where protesters had blocked the port’s entrance, forcing a halt to all operations.
Basra, Iraq’s second biggest city located in the country’s Shiite heartland, has been roiled by five days of deadly demonstrations, in which government buildings have been ransacked and set alight by protesters angry over political corruption. Protests first erupted in July over poor government services, but intensified this week.
On Friday, protesters broke into the Iranian consulate’s offices, shouting condemnation of what many perceive as Iran’s sway over Iraq’s political affairs, and set it alight. Iran and Iraq both strongly condemned the move, raising fears of possible retribution.