Pro-Iran factions commemorate second anniversary of Soleimani, al-Muhandis assassination in Baghdad
The southern Iraqi provinces of Karbala, Najaf, and Basra declared Monday a holiday in light of the commemoration.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Hundreds of Iran-aligned Shiite forces on Sunday evening congregated near Baghdad International Airport to commemorate the second anniversary of the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
On Jan. 3, 2020, a drone strike destroyed a convoy that was carrying Iran’s top military figure Soleimani, the head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) extraterritorial Quds Forces, and Muhandis, then the deputy of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary. The attack was sanctioned by then US President Donald Trump.
Hashd al-Shaabi supporters, holding the photos of the slain commanders, held a candle-lit vigil near the airport, where the remains of the military officials’ destroyed vehicles are preserved.
Days before Jan. 3, thousands of members of the Shiite forces visited Baghdad to participate in the commemoration event.
The southern Iraqi provinces of Karbala, Najaf, and Basra declared Monday a holiday in light of the commemoration.
Following the deadly strike two years ago, the Shiite parliamentary blocs pushed for a resolution calling for the expulsion of US forces stationed in Iraq as part of the international coalition against ISIS.
Iraqi airbases hosting foreign military personnel have been subjected to rocket attacks believed to have been carried out by Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi groups.