Zippyjuan
Banned
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2008
- Messages
- 49,008
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50959574
On the other hand, Trump just talks tough most of the time and doesn't follow up on threats. Countries like Iran know this.
On the other hand, Trump just talks tough most of the time and doesn't follow up on threats. Countries like Iran know this.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the strikes had violated his country's sovereignty. The leader of the Kataib Hezbollah militia, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, warned that its response "would be very tough on the American forces in Iraq".
The US is sending extra forces to the embassy following the attack, and Mr Trump has also said he expects Iraqi forces to protect the embassy and its staff - thanking Prime Minister Mahdi for the action already taken during the attack.
American officials told Reuters news agency that hundreds of troops from the 82nd Airborne Division in North Carolina could also be sent to compound quickly if needed.
What happened in Baghdad?
Tuesday's protest took place after funerals were held in Baghdad for the militia fighters who were killed in the US strikes.
Thousands of mourners - including Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and several other senior militia and paramilitary leaders - marched towards the heavily-fortified Green Zone, where many Iraqi government offices and foreign embassies are located.
They were allowed by Iraqi security forces to enter the zone and gather on a street outside the US embassy compound.
"This embassy has been proved to be an embassy of plotting against Iraq," said Qais al-Khazali, head of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia.
Waving Kataib Hezbollah and other militia flags, and chanting anti-American slogans, the protesters threw stones at the compound's main gate, pulled down security cameras, attacked empty guard posts, and started fires.
The situation later escalated when the compound's wall was breached.
According to the Associated Press news agency, a gate was smashed open and dozens of people pushed about 5m (16ft) into a corridor leading to the main embassy building, before being forced to retreat by tear gas fired by US troops.
A US official told CBS News that the compound had not been breached but that protesters had scaled a wall with a ladder and get into a reception area outside it.
Iraqi soldiers and riot police were reportedly later deployed in the area and the protest died down as night fell.
Fifty people were treated for tear-gas inhalation at hospitals in Baghdad, a health ministry source told the BBC.
None of the embassy staff were evacuated, but they are now on lockdown, CBS reported. Ambassador Matthew Tueller was outside Iraq for a previously scheduled holiday and was reportedly returning to the embassy.
