Dozens of angry Iraqi Shiite militia supporters yesterday broke into the US embassy compound in Baghdad after smashing a main door and setting fire to a reception area, prompting tear gas and sounds of gunfire.
A reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three US soldiers on the roof of the main building inside embassy.
There was a fire at the reception area near the parking lot of the compound, but it was unclear what had caused it.
Photo: Reuters
A man on a loudspeaker urged the protesters not to enter the compound, saying: “The message was delivered.”
The embassy attack followed deadly US airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataib Hezbollah.
The US military said it was in retaliation for last week’s killing of a US contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that it had blamed on the militia.
Dozens of protesters pushed into the compound after smashing the gate used by vehicles to enter the embassy.
The protesters, many in militia uniform, stopped in a corridor after about 5m, and were only about 200m away from the main building.
Half a dozen US soldiers were seen on the roof of the main building, their guns were pointed at the protesters.
Smoke from the tear gas rose in the area, and at least three of the protesters appeared to have difficulties breathing.
The US ambassador to Iraq and other staff were earlier evacuated because of safety concerns.
The protesters hanged a poster on the wall: “America is an aggressor.”
Earlier, the mob shouted “Down, Down USA!” as the crowd tried to push inside the embassy grounds, hurling water and stones over its walls. They raised yellow militia flags and taunted the embassy’s security staff who remained behind the glass windows in the gates’ reception area and also sprayed graffiti on the wall and windows.
The graffiti, in red in support of the Kataib Hezbollah, read: “Closed in the name of the resistance.” Hundreds of angry protesters also set up tents outside the embassy. As tempers rose, the mob set fire to three trailers used by security guards along the embassy wall.
No one was immediately reported hurt in the rampage and security staff had withdrawn to inside the embassy earlier, soon after protesters gathered outside.
Seven armored vehicles with about 30 Iraqi soldiers arrived near the embassy hours after the violence erupted, deploying near the embassy walls but not close to the breached area.
There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon or the US the Department of State.
The US airstrikes — the largest targeting an Iraqi state-sanctioned militia in the past few years — and the subsequent calls by the militia for retaliation, represent a new escalation in the proxy war between the US and Iran playing out in the Middle East.
Yesterday’s attempted embassy storming took place after mourners and supporters held funerals for the militia fighters killed in a Baghdad neighborhood, after which they marched on to the heavily fortified Green Zone and kept walking till they reached the sprawling US embassy.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Sunday’s strikes send the message that the US would not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardize American lives.
The Iranian-backed Iraqi militia on Monday vowed to retaliate for the US military strikes.
The US attack also outraged the Iraqi government.
It said it would reconsider its relationship with the US-led coalition — the first time it has said it would do so since an agreement was struck to keep some US troops in the country.
It called the attack a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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