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Iran-backed militia supporters converge on U.S. embassy in Baghdad shouting ‘Death to America’ Protesters chanting ‘Death to America’ attempt to storm U.S. Embassy in Baghdad
(about 1 hour later)
BAGHDAD — Hundreds of angry supporters of an Iranian-backed militia chanted "Death to America" as they converged on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday to protest U.S. airstrikes against the militia that killed or wounded scores of fighters. BAGHDAD — Hundreds of angry supporters of an Iranian-backed militia shouting "Death to America" attempted to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, trapping diplomats inside in response to U.S. airstrikes that killed or wounded scores of militia fighters.
A spokesman for the Kataib Hezbollah militia said the demonstrators plan to lay siege to the embassy until the facility shuts down and U.S. diplomats leave Iraq. A spokesman for the Kataib Hezbollah militia said the intent is for the demonstrators to lay siege to the embassy until the facility shuts down and U.S. diplomats leave Iraq.
Photographs shared by journalists at the scene showed hundreds of men waving the militia’s flags milling outside the two main entrances to the heavily fortified embassy compound, located inside the government-controlled Green Zone. Some began erecting tents nearby in a sign that they were planning to camp outside, trapping U.S. diplomats in the compound. But the angry demonstrators defied appeals delivered over loudspeakers by the group’s leaders not to enter the embassy and smashed their way into one of the facility’s reception areas, breaking down fortified doors and bulletproof glass and setting fire to the room.
The Iraqi security forces who normally restrict entrance to the guarded zone made no attempt to intervene, even as hundreds more people streamed across a normally sealed bridge to join the protest. The protesters also smashed security cameras, set fire to two guardrooms and burned tires, blanketing the area in dense smoke.
Jaafar al-Husseini, the Kataib Hezbollah spokesman, said the demonstrators have no plans to storm the embassy, only to encamp outside until it closes. Embassy civil defense workers could be seen beyond the gates attempting to put out one of the fires, as Iraqi security forces, who had made no attempt to prevent demonstrators from reaching the embassy, began to intervene to try to prevent them from going further inside the vast embassy compound.
Though the demonstration had only been underway for a few hours, there were echoes of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis in a situation that risks becoming a prolonged siege. The embassy lies inside the heavily fortified Green Zone, which is normally off limits to civilians. But earlier in the morning, hundreds of people walked unimpeded into the zone to join the demonstrations, chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
The protest comes amid an outpouring of rage in Iraq directed against the United States for carrying out the airstrikes Sunday against Kataib Hezbollah bases located around the Iraqi-Syrian border. The strikes, which killed 25 militia members, were conducted in response to the death of an American contractor in a rocket attack last Friday on a base housing U.S. troops in Kirkuk. Some protesters began erecting tents nearby, indicating that they intend to remain for the long haul. Jaafar al-Husseini, a Kataib Hezbollah spokesman, said the group plans to encamp outside the embassy until it closes, a scenario with ominous echoes of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
U.S. officials say the strikes were “defensive” and aimed at deterring further rocket attacks against U.S. personnel by Iranian allies in Iraq. U.S. Embassy officials did not respond to requests for comment.
But in Iraq they have been interpreted as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and of the rules governing the presence of the approximately 5,000 U.S. troops based there to aid in the fight against the Islamic State. The demonstration comes amid an outpouring of rage in Iraq directed against the United States for carrying out airstrikes Sunday against Kataib Hezbollah bases near the Iraqi-Syrian border. The strikes were in response to the death of an American contractor in a rocket attack last Friday on a base housing U.S. troops in Kirkuk. The United States blamed the rocket attack on the Iranian-backed group.
The embassy compound is the largest U.S. diplomatic facility in the world and was opened with much fanfare over a decade ago as a symbol of American influence in Iraq. But on Monday it seemed as much a symbol of the vulnerability of the United States in an Iraq in which it now has few allies. U.S. officials said the airstrikes were “defensive” and aimed at deterring further rocket attacks against U.S. personnel by Iranian allies in Lebanon.
But in Iraq they have been interpreted as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty and of the rules governing the presence of the approximately 5,000 U.S. troops based there to help Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State.
The embassy compound is the largest U.S. diplomatic facility in the world and was opened with much fanfare over a decade ago as a symbol of American influence in Iraq. But on Tuesday, it seemed as much a symbol of the vulnerability of the United States in an Iraq in which it now has few allies.
Sly reported from Beirut.Sly reported from Beirut.
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