Five Iraqi troops were killed Thursday when their helicopter crashed on a "combat mission" north of Baghdad, the military said, as a security source confirmed it had been hit by ground fire.

Two rockets were fired early Thursday at Baghdad's fortified Green Zone which houses the U.S. embassy, without causing any casualties or damage, an Iraqi security source told AFP.

The United States will return to Iraq some 17,000 archaeological treasures dating back 4,000 years and looted in recent decades, an "unprecedented" restitution, the culture minister in Baghdad said Wednesday.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi was set to take back the artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia on his aircraft, when he returns Thursday from Washington where he met US President Joe Biden.

Tunisia's judiciary has opened an investigation into allegations political parties received foreign funding ahead of national elections held in 2019, the prosecutor's office told AFP on Wednesday.

Three parties are under investigation, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha -- the biggest party in parliament -- as well as the liberal Qalb Tounes and the Aich Tounsi movement.

Tunisia lurched further into political uncertainty Wednesday, as President Kais Saied sacked more officials, days after he suspended parliament and assumed executive powers in what opponents labelled a "coup".

Key civil society groups warned against any "illegitimate" extension of Saied's 30-day suspension of parliament, and demanded in a joint statement a timeline for political action.

The private equity firm that owns NSO, the Israeli spyware company at the heart of the Pegasus scandal, is being liquidated, a source close to the company told AFP on Wednesday, confirming media reports.  

Tunisia, the cradle of the 2011 Arab Spring revolts and long seen as its sole democratic success story, has been plunged into crisis with the threat of more turmoil ahead.  

President Joe Biden declared U.S. relations with Iraq would enter a new phase with American troops exiting combat operations in the country by year-end as he held talks Monday with Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi.

Amid the threat of an Islamic State resurgence and Iran's powerful influence in Baghdad, Biden stressed that Washington remains "committed to our security cooperation" while Kadhemi reaffirmed their "strategic partnership."

The European Union on Tuesday called for a speedy return to political stability in Tunisia after the country plunged into turmoil following the president's ousting of the prime minister. 

"We call for the restoration of institutional stability as soon as possible, and in particular for the resumption of parliamentary activity, respect for fundamental rights and an abstention from all forms of violence," the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. 

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz will meet his French counterpart in Paris this week for talks that will include an "update" on the Pegasus spyware scandal, his office said Tuesday. 

A ministry statement said Gantz will leave Wednesday for talks with French Defense Minister Florence Parly on topics including the crisis in Lebanon, nuclear negotiations with Iran and the Pegasus malware made by Israeli firm NSO, which was allegedly used to target President Emmanuel Macron.