Rockets hit Baghdad airport, no casualties

Two rockets hit the Baghdad airport complex on Friday but did not cause any damage or casualties, the head of the Iraqi civil aviation authority said.

The attack on the international airport came a day after militants briefly occupied a building housing a transport ministry state-owned company and took hostages.

It comes amid a protracted surge in nationwide violence that has sparked fears that Iraq is slipping back into all-out conflict.

“Two missiles dropped on Baghdad airport at about 6:30 am [3:30 GMT],” civil aviation authority chief Captain Nasser Bander told AFP.

“They did not cause any damage, and they did not affect any departures or arrivals of aircraft. Everything is going well at the airport.”

Attacks on Baghdad airport remain rare, and the authorities managing it often trumpet security at the facility, where passengers must pass through at least 14 checkpoints before boarding an international flight.

But the rocket attack comes amid intensifying violence, with more than 900 people killed already this month according to an AFP tally, more than three times the figure for January 2013.