United against US Presence in Iraq: Hundreds of Thousands Take to the Streets

By Staff, Agencies

Masses of Iraqis gathered in the capital Baghdad to denounce the US military occupation in the country after the US assassinated Lt. Gen. Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the second-in-command of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units [PMU], in Baghdad earlier this month.

Iraqi media outlets reported that citizens from "all of Iraqi provinces" have gathered in the city.

Protesters were seen carrying banners and chanting slogans calling for the expulsion of US forces.

The demonstrators are planned to gather in the intersection of Baghdad University in the Jadriyah neighborhood.

According to Reuters, new checkpoints were installed across the capital by late Thursday afternoon in anticipation of the major rally.

Iraqis in Karbala city, south of Baghdad, were also seen boarding buses heading towards the capital.

The rally came after calls on Iraqis to stage "a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations" last week.

On January 5, the Iraqi parliament voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution calling for the expulsion of all US-led forces in the country two days after Washington assassinated the resistance leaders.

Various Iraqi resistance groups affiliated with the PMU have backed the anti-American rally.