SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Thousands of supporters of Iraq’s Hashid al-Shaabi marked the second anniversary of the killing of top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a U.S. drone strike in 2020.
Chanting “Death to America”, the Hashid supporters filled a Baghdad square to honor Soleimani, according to AFP.
“U.S. terrorism has to end” read one sign at the rally by backers of the pro-Iranian Hashed, a former paramilitary alliance that has been integrated into Iraq’s state security apparatus, AFP reported.
Soleimani and Muhandis were killed in a U.S. drone strike near Baghdad international airport on January 3, 2020.
Soleimani headed an elite overseas unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, while Muhandis commanded Hashid al-Shaabi paramilitary network in Iraq.
The United States had accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on U.S. forces in the region.
Days after the U.S. drone strike, Iran retaliated with a rocket attack on an Iraqi air base where U.S. forces were stationed, and Iranian forces on high alert mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran.
Senior Hashid official Falih al-Fayyadh said on Saturday that the killing of Soleimani and Muhandis was “a crime against Iraqi sovereignty”.
Earlier on Saturday, Iraqi media cited intelligence sources as saying that pro-Iranian militias planned to attack the U.S. embassy in Baghdad in retaliation for the drone strike that killed Soleimani and Muhandis.
Al-Arabiya channel reported that a security document of the Iraqi intelligence revealed the “existence of a plot by pro-Iranian militias to target the U.S. embassy with missiles” in retaliation of the assassination of Soleimani and al-Muhandis.
“The document recommended intensifying security efforts in Baghdad and conducting thorough searches in the Palestine Street area, where armed militias loyal to Iran are present,” Al-Arabia said.
