Update 12:16pm: New reports, including one from Reuters, indicate that there have been five causalities. Five people were wounded in a mortar attack on Baghdad’s Jadriya neighborhood on Saturday, media reported citing local police sources. According to the report by Reuters, no fatalities were caused by the attack. It is unclear who is responsible for the incident.

————————————-

As the world waits to see how and if Iran will respond to a deadly U.S. drone attack on Thursday which claimed the life of several top Iranian military leaders, including Gen. Qassem Soleimani, very early reports emerged Saturday morning on Twitter suggesting that several rockets were fired at Balad air base — an Iraqi installation that also reportedly hosts U.S. troops.

More reports, including one from Reuters, indicated that a rocket landed inside Baghdad’s Green Zone. There is no word yet who was responsible for the rocket attack, but so far, no casualties have been reported.

Reuters: The rocket fell inside the Green Zone's Celebrations Square, near the U.S. embassy. — Vincent Lee (@Rover829) January 4, 2020

“There appears to be multiple coordinated rocket attacks against known US populated areas in #Iraq this morning. Rocket attacks in the Green Zone and against #Balad. Early reports state that the airbase did take impacts,” StrategicSentinel tweeted.

News of the rocket attacks have already drawn speculation that it could be the beginning of retaliatory responses to President Donald Trump’s authorization of Soleimani’s kill mission, which triggered a harsh response from Iran. Iran’s Supreme Leader vowed retaliation for the attack, along with several Iranian commanders echoing the threat.

This post will be updated accordingly as news emerges of the potential retaliatory attacks.