Iraqi fighters mourn comrades killed in US air strikes

Militia members chant ‘Death to America’ as they mass near Baghdad’s Green Zone where the US embassy is located.

Thousands of members of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shabi paramilitary alliance gathered in Baghdad on Tuesday to mourn comrades killed in American air attacks along the Syrian border. The US raids early on Monday sparked an exchange of fire between pro-Iranian militias and the United States-led coalition in eastern Syria, as well as fears of a new US-Iran escalation amid faltering efforts to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. With chants of “Death to America” and “Vengeance for the martyrs”, they massed in Freedom Square near the capital’s high-security Green Zone – the site of the US embassy.