Several thousand Iraqi protesters gathered near the US embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, with dozens breaching its outer wall and chanting “Death to America!” in anger over weekend air strikes that killed or injured dozens of Hashd Shaabi fighters.
It was the first time in years protesters have been able to reach the US embassy, which is sheltered behind a series of checkpoints in the high-security Green Zone.
A stream of protesters marched through those checkpoints to the embassy’s walls, throwing rocks and wrenching security cameras off the walls.
US marines inside the compound fired tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd, which had ignored calls over megaphones to back away from the embassy.
The demonstrators waved flags of the Hashd volunteer forces, also called as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), who played major role in confronting ISIL Takfiri militants along with Iraqi Army and security forces in the Arab country.
On Sunday, at least 25 fighters from the Hashd’s Kata’ib Hezbollah were martyred in US air strikes on a western base. More than 50 other fighters were injured, according to Iraqi media.
Earlier before the protests near the US embassy, mass funerals were held for Kata’ib Hezbollah martyrs who were fallen in Sunday strikes.
Source: Agencies
