Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry has summoned the US and British ambassadors to Baghdad over a string of airstrikes carried out by the United States against multiple locations of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha’abi.
“Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali al-Hakim held an emergency meeting in which the ministry’s undersecretaries, advisors, and official spokesman discussed the measures regarding the recent American aggression,” the ministry’s spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf said in a statement published on the official Twitter page of the ministry on Friday.
The Foreign Minister @maalhakim held an emergency meeting in which the Ministry’s Undersecretaries, Advisors,and Official Spokesman attend to discuss measures regarding the recent U.S aggression, and directed the summoning the Ambassadors of the United States and UK to #Baghdad. pic.twitter.com/biiyP3sJTJ
— د. احمد الصحاف | Dr. Ahmad Al-Sahaf (@DrAhmedalshaf) March 13, 2020
He added the foreign minister “ordered the summoning of the United States and British ambassadors to Baghdad (Matthew H. Tueller and Stephen Hickey respectively).”
President Barham Salih also censured the US airstrikes in Iraq, which killed at least one civilian and five security personnel early on Friday.
“The Presidency of the Republic (of Iraq) condemns the foreign bombardment that targeted several locations inside Iraq, including Karbala airport which is under construction, and led to the martyrdom and wounding of members of the Iraqi security forces and civilians,” Salih said in a statement published on the official Twitter page of the presidency on Friday.
Salih then called on “the international community to support Iraq in its endeavor, and respect it sovereignty as well as its independent national decisions.”
‘No solution other than exit of foreign forces from Iraq’
Separately, the Fatah (Conquest) alliance, led by Badr Organization Secretary General Hadi al-Ameri, denounced the US airstrikes, saying, “There is no solution except for the departure of foreign forces from Iraq.”
“At today’s dawn, US aircraft launched a new act of aggression, targeting the headquarters and military centers of the Popular Mobilization Units, the Iraqi army and emergency forces. The fresh American onslaught targeted a civilian airport under construction in the holy city of Karbala as well,” the alliance said in a statement carried by Iraq’s Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network on Friday.
رئاسة الجمهورية تستنكر القصف الأجنبي الذي استهدف مواقع داخل العراق. pic.twitter.com/T9VPqgNyQa
— رئاسة جمهورية العراق (@IraqiPresidency) March 13, 2020
The statement added, “The attack resulted in severe damage to the civilian and military installations of Iraq. This aggression has clearly indicated repeated US violations against Iraq, its people and armed forces. The aggression shows that US military and political leadership intentionally strike civilian targets as part of their policy of destruction and sabotage of Iraq, its nation and its emerging political experience.”
Iraqi government urged to protect sovereignty.
The US military did not estimate how many people in Iraq may have been killed in the strikes, which officials said were carried out by piloted aircraft.
US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in a Pentagon statement detailing the strikes, cautioned that the United States was prepared to respond again, if needed.
“We will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region,” Esper said.
Separately, an Iraqi official said an airstrike had hit an airport under construction in Karbala, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Baghdad.
