The US embassy in Baghdad was hit by an attack on Saturday following strikes that killed two members of a powerful Iran-backed group in the capital, security sources said.

Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, was quickly dragged into the Middle East war triggered by US and Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February.

A cloud of black smoke rose above the US diplomatic mission shortly after the sound of explosions on Saturday morning, an AFP journalist said.