BAGHDAD — Several hundred protesters gather in the Iraqi capital to demand US troops leave the country in accordance with a parliament vote earlier this year.
“We will choose resistance if parliament’s vote is not ratified!” reads one of the banners at the demonstration, which took place near an entrance to the high-security Green Zone, where the US embassy and other foreign missions are located.
Others carried signs bearing the logo of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a state-sponsored network of armed groups including many supported by Iraq’s powerful neighbor Iran.
Following a US strike on Baghdad in January that killed top Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani and the PMF’s deputy head, outraged Iraqi parliamentarians voted to oust all foreign forces deployed in the country.
The US has sent thousands of troops to Iraq since 2014 to lead an international coalition helping Baghdad fight the Islamic State jihadist group.
Washington has drawn down those forces in recent months to around 3,000, and other coalition countries have also shrunk their footprint.
Starting in October 2019, rockets regularly targeted those troops as well as diplomats at the US embassy.
Over the summer, there was a marked increase in attacks against coalition logistics convoys using roadside bombs.
Enraged by the ongoing attacks, the US in late September threatened to close its Baghdad embassy and carry out bombing raids against hard-line elements of the PMF.
— AFP
Supporters of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces pose before a banner showing a montage of (L to R) slain Iraqi PMF commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Iranian Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Lebanese Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh; during a demonstration outside the entrance to the Iraqi capital Baghdad’s highly-fortified Green Zone on November 7, 2020, demanding the departure of remaining US forces from Iraq. (Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)
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