Iraq: symbolic funeral for pro-Iran militiamen killed in US raids
Members of the Popular Mobilization (Hachd al-Chaabi) carry portraits of those killed by US airstrikes on the Syrian-Iraqi border during a symbolic funeral in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 29.
REUTERS - SABA KAREEM
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In Baghdad, thousands of fighters from the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of armed groups, marched alongside their supporters.
They paid tribute to the victims of the American strikes, which targeted the positions of these armed groups on the Iraqi-Syrian border this Sunday, June 27.
Publicity
Read more
With our correspondent in Baghdad
,
Lucile Wassermann
"
Death to America
", "
Vengeance for the Martyrs
". This is the kind of slogans shouted in the hearts of thousands of supporters of the Popular Mobilization (Hachd al-Chaabi), this Tuesday in Baghdad. Gathered for a symbolic funeral after the American strikes, these fighters marched alongside senior Iraqi officials, including former Prime Minister Adul Abdel Mahdi, and leading figures in this military coalition.
This kind of mobilization worries in Iraq because it is reminiscent of the one organized at the end of December 2019. At the time, these same supporters stormed the American embassy.
The United States then responded by assassinating Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad and Iraq had almost tipped into a new war.
This time, the mobilization ended calmly, at midday, but in the country, concern remains.
Because on social networks and in their ranks, the militias continue to call for an armed response against the American soldiers in Iraq.
Iraqi prime minister wants to avoid escalation
On the night of Sunday June 27 to Monday 28, the United States carried out strikes against these militias in response to attacks in recent months against their interests in Iraq, blamed on factions loyal to Tehran. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH), the raids destroyed a warehouse and a position of Iraqi militias members of Hachd al-Chaabi near the town of Boukamal in eastern Syria, not far away. from the Iraqi border.
During a visit to Rome on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the nightly US strikes against pro-Iran militias in Iraq and Syria were a "
strong
"
message
to prevent any further attack on US interests. .
But in Baghdad, Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazimi denounced a "
flagrant violation of
Iraqi
sovereignty
", while calling "
to avoid escalation
".
►Also read
: The United States strikes pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Iraq
Iran
Syria
On the same subject
US strikes pro-Iran militias in Iraq, Syria
Iraq studies "legal options" after US raids on its soil
International guest
American strikes in Iraq: "The pro-Iranian militias are very organized and very structured"