Drone attack targets a residential neighborhood in the center of the Iraqi capital
A drone targeted the headquarters of the Iraqi intelligence agency in Baghdad today, Saturday, killing an Iraqi officer, as the war in the Middle East entered its fourth week.
The Iraqi National Intelligence Service stated in a communiqué that “at 10:00 a.m. today, Saturday, March 21, 2026, the vicinity of the National Intelligence Service’s site in Baghdad came under a terrorist attack carried out by outlaw groups,” adding that the assault resulted in the death of an officer. The agency affirmed its “commitment to fulfilling its national duties,” emphasizing that “these terrorist acts will only strengthen its resolve and determination to pursue their perpetrators and those responsible until they are apprehended and brought to justice.”
Earlier today, Iraq’s Security Media Cell stated in a brief communiqué that “at 10:15 a.m. this morning, a drone crashed into the headquarters of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service in the Al-Mansour district.”
A drone attack also took place this morning on a residential neighborhood in central Baghdad, according to a security source cited by Agence France-Presse. The official said that “the first drone was a reconnaissance drone that crashed into the Hunting Club,” an upscale social club located in the Al-Mansour district in the heart of the Iraqi capital, while “the second drone carried out the attack on a communications building” belonging to an Iraqi security institution that cooperates with American advisers present in Iraq as part of the international coalition fighting ISIS.
Eyewitnesses, for their part, reported hearing the sound of an explosion in the vicinity of the Baghdad International Fair in the Al-Mansour district of Baghdad. The witnesses said the explosion produced plumes of black smoke, and civil defense and security vehicles were seen rushing to the scene.
In the wake of the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran on the morning of February 28, Iraq became one of the countries into which the war expanded, as airstrikes targeted the headquarters of Iran-aligned armed factions, attacks struck U.S. interests, and Iran launched strikes on opposition Kurdish groups in the north of the country.
Iran-aligned Iraqi factions claim responsibility on a daily basis for drone and rocket attacks targeting military bases in Iraq and the region, without specifying their objectives.
The factions announced at dawn on Saturday that they had carried out 27 drone and rocket attacks over the past 24 hours in Iraq and the region.
Last night and at dawn today, Saturday, witnessed the most extensive bombing operation targeting the Victoria base, which provides logistical support to U.S. forces near Baghdad International Airport, using drones, as well as a U.S. military base in Erbil.
From its side, the Popular Mobilization Authority in Iraq announced early Saturday morning that one of its members had been killed and several others injured in an Israeli-American airstrike late Friday night. The strike targeted the headquarters of the 4th Regiment of the 52nd Brigade, under the command of the North and East Tigris Operations within the Popular Mobilization Authority, in the Tuz Khurmatu district north of Baghdad. The statement clarified that the bombing targeted the PMF forces at the Haliwa Airport site in the Tuz Khurmatu district.