Thousands of mourners chanting “America is the Great Satan” yesterday marched in a funeral procession through Baghdad for Iran’s top general and Iraqi militant leaders who were killed in a US airstrike.
Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, who headed the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, was killed in an airstrike early on Friday near the Iraqi capital’s international airport.
Iran has vowed harsh retaliation, raising fears of an all-out war.
Photo: AFP
US President Donald Trump said he ordered the strike to prevent a conflict.
His administration said that Soleimani was plotting a series of attacks that endangered US troops and officials, without providing evidence.
An official with the US-led coalition in Iraq said it has scaled back operations and boosted “security and defensive measures” at bases hosting coalition forces in the country.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity according to regulations.
Washington has dispatched another 3,000 troops to neighboring Kuwait.
Soleimani was the architect of Iran’s regional policy of mobilizing militias across Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, including in the war against the Islamic State group. He was also blamed for attacks on US troops and allies going back to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The mourners, mostly men in black military fatigues, carried Iraqi flags and the flags of Iran-backed militias that are loyal to Soleimani. They were also mourning Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a senior Iraqi militia commander who was killed in the strike.
The procession began at the Imam Kadhim shrine in Baghdad, one of the most revered sites in Shiite Islam. Mourners marched in the streets alongside militia vehicles in a solemn procession.
The mourners, many of them in tears, chanted: “No, No, America,” and “Death to America, death to Israel.”
Mohammed Fadl, a mourner dressed in black, said the funeral is an expression of loyalty to the slain leaders.
“It is a painful strike, but it will not shake us,” he said.
Two helicopters hovered over the procession, which was attended by Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi and leaders of Iran-backed militias.
The gates to Baghdad’s Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, including the US embassy, were closed.
As tensions soared across the region, there were reports overnight of an airstrike on a convoy of Iran-backed militia fighters north of Baghdad.
Hours later, the Iraqi army denied any airstrike had taken place. The US-led coalition also denied carrying out any airstrike.
The Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group of mostly Iran-backed militias, and security officials had reported the airstrike in Taji, north of the capital.
An Iraqi security official had said five people were killed and two vehicles were destroyed.
It was not immediately clear if another type of explosion had occurred.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS