Iraq summons US envoy over 'violation of sovereignty'

Amid the spiralling tensions between Washington and Tehran over the killing of Iranian top commander Qasim Sulemani in Baghdad,  Iraqi foreign ministry termed the American action a blatant violation of the country's sovereignty.

Baghdad: The Iraqi foreign ministry on Sunday summoned US ambassador Matthew Tueller to condemn American strikes on Iraq that killed a top Iranian general, an Iraqi commander and other local fighters.

"They were a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty," the ministry said in a statement, and "contradict the agreed-upon missions of the international coalition".

Amid the intensifying tension between Washington and Tehran over the killing of top Iranian commander, the US-led coalition on Sunday announced that it was "pausing" its fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq, where US troops training local forces have faced a spate of rocket attacks.

"This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh (IS) and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review," the coalition said in a statement.

On Saturday, the coalition said that its forces in Baghdad and an airfield north of the capital had faced new attacks, bringing the total rocket strikes in the last two months to 13.