Australian diplomats in Baghdad bomb scare

Australian diplomats have been targeted in a bomb attack in Baghdad, with a roadside device detonated as their convoy passed.

The Australian embassy in Baghdad. Picture: Alex Ellinghausen

Australian diplomats have been targeted in a bomb attack in Baghdad, with a roadside device being detonated as their convoy was passing.

The convoy, reportedly consisting of diplomatic and military vehicles, was able to continue on towards the embassy in the heavily fortified Green Zone. There were no injuries.

Bas News, an independent news agency based in Erbil, northern Iraq, reported the ­incident happened at 6.30am local time (1.30pm AEST) on the airport road, known as Route Irish.

However, other reports suggested it was closer to the Green Zone, where Western diplomatic missions and military personnel are based.

The improvised explosive ­device caused damage to roadside barriers.

“No group or organisation were immediately blamed for the bombing, with no claims of responsibility for it yet either,” Bas reported.

“Pro-Iran Shia militia groups have previously been accused of targeting foreign diplomatic missions in Iraq, forcing them to leave the country.”

Local reports suggested Australian diplomats have been working to broker an agreement between rival factions in Iraq in the hope of bringing to an end one of the worst political ­crises the country has faced in ­recent years.

It was not known if the blast was linked to those efforts.

Diplomats at the Australian embassy are said to have been trying to mediate between powerful Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and an Iran-linked faction of rival Shi’ite parties.

Their efforts followed failed attempts by the caretaker Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, to reach a settlement between the groups.

It is not the first time Australian diplomats have been at the centre of a security scare in Baghdad.

In January 2005, two ­Australian Defence Force personnel were injured when a car bomb exploded outside the embassy.

Officials at the time said the attack may have been directed at a military barracks situated close by.

Three Iraqis died in the blast and seven were hurt, all of whom were outside the embassy at the time of the explosion.

A group linked to al-Qa’ida was thought responsible.

Additional reporting: Agencies