Iraqi pro-Iran militia supporters attack US embassy in Baghdad

Supporters of Iraq’s Khataib Hezbollah militia attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday following deadly airstrikes that killed 25 fighters from the Iran-backed Shiite militia in Iraq.

The Pentagon said on Monday that it struck five locations where the militias are based in response to a rocket attack on a military base in Kirkuk that killed an American civilian contractor and wounded four soldiers.

Mourners held funerals for those killed in the strike in a Baghdad neighbourhood, after which they marched on to the heavily fortified Green Zone and kept walking till they reached the sprawling US Embassy there.

Local media reported pro-Hezbollah supporters have burning the US flag and trying to break into the US embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone.

Protesters waved Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) flags and chanted “death to America,” footage taken from the scene showed.

The embassy attacks came as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held calls with leaders in the Middle East on Monday to discuss the American air strikes.

Mr Pompeo spoke with Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the US State Department said.

The Saudi Press Agency said Prince Mohammed and Mr Pompeo “discussed a number of regional and international developments as well as efforts to enhance security and stability in the region”.

On Sunday, the United States carried out attacks on five targets in Iraq and Syria belonging to the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia.

At least 25 militia fighters were killed and 55 wounded in the strikes that Washington said were in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.

Riyadh on Tuesday condemned the attacks launched last week by Iran-backed militias against American forces in Iraq, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Earlier on Monday, Mr Pompeo said in a call with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the strikes “were aimed at deterring Iran”, the State Department said.

Outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said the air strikes could plunge the country further into the heart of a proxy conflict between the United States and Iran.

“The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences,” his office said.

Baghdad said it would summon the US ambassador while Washington responded by accusing Iraqi authorities of having failed to “protect” US interests.

Also on Monday, Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis, a senior member in Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces and founder of Kataib Hezbollah, vowed that they would retaliate.

“We will hold America accountable and will not stay silent on what has happened. The administration in Washington cannot possibly think that they control Iraq,” he said.

The PMF is an umbrella grouping of paramilitary groups that was formally integrated into Iraq’s armed forces during the fight against ISIS. Most of the militia in the group are backed by Iran.

On Monday about 400 people in Basra protested against the air strikes, demonstrating their support for the militias. Counter-protests were held applauding the US action.

Mr Pompeo said Washington may take “additional actions” in the region.