Trump accuses Iran over storming of US embassy compound in Baghdad
Iraqi Shia militia supporters break into compound after US strikes on state-sanctioned militia
Iraqi Shia militia supporters break into compound after US strikes on state-sanctioned militia
Donald Trump has accused Iran of orchestrating an attack on the US embassy in Baghdad after dozens of Iraqi Shia militia supporters broke into its compound after smashing a door and storming inside.
The angry demonstration followed US airstrikes on Sunday against three camps in Iraq and two in Syria. The bases belonged to the Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah militia group, which is formally part of the Iraqi army. At least 25 fighters were killed and dozens injured.
The Pentagon said the strikes were in response to a rocket attack on Friday against a US base in Kirkuk, in which a US civilian contractor was killed and four other Americans were hurt. It described them as “defensive”.
An Associated Press reporter at the embassy in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three US soldiers on the roof.
“Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will,” Trump tweeted. “Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the US Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible.”
The US embassy denied earlier reports from Iraq’s foreign ministry that the ambassador and his staff were hastily evacuated, as protesters surged towards the building to protest against the US.
An embassy spokesperson told CNN that the chief of the US mission in Iraq, Matthew Tueller, was away on a scheduled vacation and had left Baghdad a week ago. The embassy was under lockdown but had not been formally evacuated, the spokesperson said.
Video from the scene showed protesters climbing over the wall of the embassy and setting fires. They shouted “No, no, America!” and “No, no, Trump!”, and “Death to America!”, witnesses said. Iraqi forces fired stun grenades at those who were trying to pull down barbed wire.
The bombings have provoked outrage inside Iraq and are the most serious incident yet in an escalating conflict between American forces and armed Iranian proxies. Iraq’s primer– an ally of both Iran and the US – said they were an attack on his country’s sovereignty.
