Fire Erupts at Al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad’s Green Zone After Projectile Strike

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — A fire broke out late Monday on the roof of the Al-Rasheed Hotel inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone after a projectile struck the building, according to witnesses and Iraqi officials.

Earlier, a Kurdistan24 correspondent reported flames and thick black smoke rising from the upper floors of the hotel, noting that the seventh floor—where the European Union Mission in Iraq is based—appeared to be among the affected areas.

Iraq’s Interior Ministry later said the projectile caused a fire on the roof but resulted in no casualties or significant damage. Firefighters were dispatched to the scene and managed to contain the blaze.

Two Iraqi security sources told AFP that the incident was linked to a drone attack that targeted the nearby United States Embassy in Baghdad, located in the same high-security district. The embassy sits close to the Al-Rasheed Hotel within the Green Zone, which hosts key government institutions and numerous diplomatic missions.

The luxury hotel itself accommodates several foreign diplomatic offices, making the area particularly sensitive from a security perspective. According to an AFP correspondent at the scene, the street leading to the hotel was sealed off by a heavy security deployment, while firefighters and ambulances were stationed nearby as authorities assessed the situation.

The Green Zone, one of the most heavily protected areas in Iraq, has historically been targeted by rockets and drones during periods of heightened regional tensions.

The latest incident comes amid escalating conflict across the Middle East, which has raised security concerns in Iraq and prompted increased protection around diplomatic facilities.

Authorities have not yet confirmed the origin of the projectile or identified those responsible for the attack. Security forces remain deployed in the area as investigations continue.

Separately on Monday, the Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah announced that its senior security commander, Abu Ali al-Askari, had been killed, though it did not provide details about the circumstances surrounding his death.

In a statement, the group’s leader, Ahmad al-Hamidawi—also known as Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi—said, “We announce the martyrdom of Haj Abu Ali al-Askari,” without specifying how or when the commander was killed.

A security official told AFP that Askari was in fact Abu Ali al-Amiri, who was reportedly killed in a strike in Baghdad on Saturday.

Kataeb Hezbollah described Askari as the group’s security chief and noted that he also served as its spokesperson, responsible for issuing key official statements on behalf of the organization. His most recent statement was released on March 7 following the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.

According to the group, Askari will be succeeded by Abou Moujahed al-Assaf as the new security chief.

In a separate incident, on Monday, eight fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were killed and seven others wounded in an attack targeting a checkpoint and nearby barracks in the Al-Qa'im District of Anbar Province, according to the office of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces.

Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for the commander-in-chief, said the casualties resulted from what he described as a “cowardly” attack on a PMF checkpoint and several adjacent barracks.

He condemned the strike, stressing that targeting an official military force operating under the authority of the commander-in-chief constitutes a clear violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, adding that such assaults represent a continued effort to weaken national forces that serve as a key barrier against terrorism and destabilizing projects.

Since the outbreak of the current regional conflict, several attacks targeting members of armed groups across Iraq have been attributed to the United States and Israel.