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

Iraq has been quickly dragged into the war launched by the US and Israel on Iran on February 28.

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

Two security officials told AFP the embassy complex was struck by a drone.

The embassy did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment on the incident, but Drop Site News said users on Iranian Telegram channels were claiming that the compound's air defense system had been destroyed.

It is the second time the US embassy has come under attack in Baghdad since the start of the war.

Several Tehran-backed armed groups, which Washington has designated as "terrorist organizations", allied under an umbrella movement known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have claimed daily drone and rocket attacks against US bases in Iraq and the region.

Since the start of the war, several attacks targeting members of those groups across Iraq have been blamed on the US and Israel.

The attack on the embassy took place shortly after two strikes targeted the Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah in Baghdad and killed three of its members, including a commander.