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Crowd storms US Embassy compound in Baghdad, gunshots heard, report says UPDATE: Trump blames Iran
[FoxNews]

Dozens of Iraqi Shiite militia supporters ‐ many in uniforms
...in uniforms? A bold choice...
‐ gained entry to the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday after they smashed down a gate and stormed inside, the Associated Press reported.

An AP reporter at the scene saw flames rising from inside the compound and at least three U.S. soldiers on the roof of the embassy. The embassy was evacuated but it was not immediately clear if there were staffers holed up inside.

Hundreds of Iraqis had attempted to storm the compound earlier in the day, following the funerals for 25 fighters from an Iran-backed Shiite militia killed in U.S. airstrikes on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

Reporters for the AP described a chaotic scene on the ground and reported that the crowd shouted, "Down, down USA!"

Two Iraqi foreign ministry officials told Reuters that the U.S. ambassador and staff have been evacuated. A man on a loudspeaker urged the mob not to enter the compound, saying: "The message was delivered."

The gate that was smashed was a side entrance. Protesters had pushed about 16 feet into a corridor that leads to the main building but the protesters were still about 200 yards away from it. They raised yellow militia flags and taunted the embassy's security staff. Graffiti in red, in support of the Kataeb Hezbollah, read: "Closed in the name of the resistance."

Sen. Marco Rubio took to Twitter early Tuesday and said Iran was directly responsible for orchestrating the breach. There was no immediate comment from the Pentagon and the State Department.

Security guards were seen retreating to the inside of the embassy as the protesters hurled water bottles and smashed security cameras outside the embassies, the report said.

The U.S. military carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday ‐ days after a U.S. defense contractor was killed in a rocket attack. Military jet fighters conducted "precision defensive strikes" on five sites of Kataeb Hezbollah, Jonathan Hoffman, a spokesperson for the Pentagon told Fox News. Two defense officials added that Air Force F-15 jet fighters carried out the strikes.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strikes send the message that the U.S. will not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardize American lives.
Update from the article at 9:30 a.m. ET
“Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible,” President Trump tweeted. “In addition, we expect Iraq to use its forces to protect the Embassy, and so notified!”
Update at 11:00 a.m. ET:
Yassine al-Yasseri, Iraq's interior minister, appeared outside the embassy at one point and walked around to inspect the scene. He told the AP that the prime minister had warned the U.S. strikes on the Shiite militiamen would have serious consequences.

"This is one of the implications," al-Yasseri said. "This is a problem and is embarrassing to the government."

The U.S. conducts 'offensive' airstrikes in Iraq and Syria after a U.S. defense contractor is killed in a rocket attack.

He said more security will be deployed to separate the protesters from the embassy, an indication the Iraqi troops would not move in to break up the crowd by force.

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. Four vehicles carrying riot police approached the embassy later but were forced back by the protesters who blocked their path.



Posted by: Seeking Cure For Ignorance 2019-12-31
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=559908