US Secretary of State Pompeo: Attack on embassy in Iraq 'orchestrated by terrorists'

The United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on January 1 said that the attack on the US embassy in Iraq was organised by terrorists, further also naming those who were behind it. Pompeo took to Twitter to share the information. He also shared photos that showed all four men outside the US embassy in Iraq, which was attacked on Tuesday. 

On December 31, thousands of Iraqi Shiite militia supporters attacked US Embassy compound in Baghdad while protesting against airstrikes that killed 25 pro-Iran fighters. According to media reports, some of the protesters also marched through the high-security checkpoints in military fatigues to which Iraqi forces didn’t react. The mob broke into the Embassy compound shouting “Death to America” and one of them hanged a poster on the wall that read, “America is an aggressor”. US security forces stood at the roof pointing guns at the protestors while some marines fired tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the aggressive crowd. 

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US President Donald Trump lashed out at Iran for “orchestrating” attack on the American Embassy in Baghdad. Referring to the attack that killed an American contractor and injured many, Trump said that the US retaliated to it and “always will”. Trump notified the Iraqi government to use its forces for providing security to the US Embassy. 

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Anger among pro-Iran groups

The attack triggered anger across the country, especially among pro-Iran voices, which forced Adel Abdel-Mahdi, currently a caretaker Prime Minister, to convey that he tried his best to stop the airstrikes on targets within Iraq. Iraqi PM said that there was “insistence” from the US officials to carry out the attack. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the strikes were carried out to send a strong message and “precision defensive strikes” were conducted at five sites of Hezbollah Brigades.

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