BAGHDAD: Rockets were fired at the US embassy in Baghdad on Friday in an attack believed to have been carried out by Iran-aligned militias which have targeted US interests in Syria and Iraq over Washington’s backing for Israel in its Gaza war.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which an embassy spokesperson said did not result in any casualties. State media said it damaged the headquarters of an Iraqi security agency. Explosions were heard near the embassy, in the centre of the capital, at about 4 a.m. on Friday.

Sirens calling on people to take cover were activated. It marked the first time the US embassy had been fired on, apparently widening the range of targets after dozens of attacks on military bases housing US forces in Iraq and Syria since mid-October amid fears of broadening conflict in the region.

Sheikh Ali Damoush, a senior official in the Lebanese group Hezbollah, said in a Friday sermon that attacks by Iran-aligned groups across the Middle East aim to apply pressure for a halt to Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip. He did not refer specifically to Friday’s attack.

The dozens of attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria have been claimed by a group of Iran-aligned Shi’ite Muslim militias operating under the banner of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.