BAGHDAD: Security forces at the US embassy in Baghdad fired tear gas early Wednesday to disperse pro-Iran demonstrators who had spent the night outside the mission’s gates, an AFP photographer said. In response, security forces inside fired tear gas at the protesters, several of whom were reported wounded and ferried away by ambulances. A cordon of Iraqi security forces that had formed around the embassy dissipated when the gas was fired. The US has blamed Iran for the attack but also pressured Iraqi security forces to step up, alarmed that the mobs were able to reach the embassy so easily. By Wednesday morning, Iraqi security forces had reimposed normal security measures along the perimeter of the Green Zone, which is usually inaccessible without a badge.

Source: Libya Today January 01, 2020 07:52 UTC