Thousands of protesters have descended on Baghdad to mourn the killing of Iranian Quds Force leader Maj.Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Iraqi soil, marking the death of the beloved military leader by calling for the US to leave Iraq.
The demonstrators observed the second anniversary of Soleimani’s murder on Friday by chanting “Death to America” and carrying signs demanding the US withdraw its forces from Iraq once and for all. The Iraqi Parliament responded to the 2019 US drone strike that killed Soleimani and Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis with a non-binding resolution demanding the expulsion of foreign troops from Iraq. However, thousands of US forces remain in the country.
The Iraqi government’s tacit acceptance of their presence has become increasingly intolerable to those who see it as collaborating with the US. That’s especially given what they see as the government’s lack of transparency in investigating the murders of Soleimani and Muhandis.
During Friday’s demonstrations, the PMF constructed a replica of the US Embassy compound that protesters then sprayed with graffiti and set on fire. Video of the protest shows participants waving Iraqi flags and chanting “Your time is up!” as the structure burns, in reference to the ongoing American troop presence in the country.