Iraqi militiamen were back at it again today outside the US Embassy in Iraq, but this time they were met with tear gas and rubber bullets from a new contingent of 100 US soldiers who were deployed to protect the embassy after yesterday’s violent protests:
FOX NEWS – The dozens of pro-Iran militiamen and protesters camped outside the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad were met Wednesday with tear gas thrown by U.S. Marines guarding the compound.
Smoke rose from the building after protesters lit a fire on the roof of the enclosure’s reception area, one day after militiamen stormed into the compound and smashed windows before pulling back.
It was one of the worst attacks on a U.S. diplomatic mission in years.
The demonstrators were protesting the deadly U.S. airstrikes that targeted an Iran-backed militia over the weekend that killed 25 fighters. Those strikes were in response to a rocket attack on an Iraqi Army base that killed a U.S. contractor and injured several American troops.
By Wednesday morning, the protesters had set up around 50 tents, along with a makeshift clinic. Cooks with aprons were serving meals out of giant pots.
Outside one of the gates, a Shiite cleric recited verses from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, through a loudspeaker.
Elsewhere, demonstrators could be seen hurling rocks over the walls of the embassy compound before U.S. troops responded by firing tear gas from the roofs of the buildings.
Some 100 U.S. Marines arrived at the embassy late Tuesday to bolster security as President Trump has denounced the actions by protesters, vowing the situation in Baghdad “will not be a Benghazi.”
Here’s a CNN report on these new embassy protests:
Trump sent 750 soldiers in total from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East after the protests yesterday, reinforcing the position that Baghdad and other potential embassy protests will not become another Benghazi.
Via TRS
