Thousands protest in Iraq to demand ouster of US troopsThousands of Iraqi men, women and children of all ages massed in Baghdad to demand US troops leave the country. BAGHDAD: Thousands of supporters of populist Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr gathered in Baghdad on Friday for a rally to demand the ouster of US troops, putting the protest-hit capital on edge. Two days later, parliament voted for all foreign troops, including some 5,200 US personnel, to leave the country. Joint US-Iraqi operations against IS have been on hold since the drone attack, which triggered retaliatory Iranian missile strikes against US troops in Iraq. 'Million-strong' marchLong opposed to the US troop presence, Sadr seized on the public anger over the drone strike to call "a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations".

Source: Bangkok Post January 24, 2020 09:56 UTC