A group of mourners holding pictures of Qasem Soleimani senior Iranian commander, in Baghdad on Jan. 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
Thousands of mourners Saturday joined the funeral procession in Baghdad for Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who were killed in a U.S. airstrike in the Iraqi capital.
BAGHDAD, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of mourners on Saturday participated in a funeral of Qasem Soleimani, a senior Iranian commander, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, who were killed in an U.S. airstrike in Iraq's capital Baghdad.
A group of mourners holding pictures of Abu Mahdi al-Muhamdis, the deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces in Baghdad on Jan. 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
The procession of military vehicles carrying the coffins were surrounded by thousands of mourners chanting anti-U.S. slogans in the holy Shiite district of Kadhmiyah in northern Baghdad.
Later on, the funeral procession headed to Jaderiyah district in southern Baghdad.
The funeral was held under tight security measures and many of Baghdad's main roads and bridges were blocked in advance to protect the mourners.
A group of mourners holding the Iraqi flag and the flags of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces, in Baghdad on Jan. 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
The procession is scheduled to visit the holy Shiite city of Karbala before heading to the nearby holy city of Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad, where the dead will be buried in the huge Wadi al-Salam cemetery.
Early on Friday, a U.S. drone attack ordered by President Donald Trump killed Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and the Iraqi militia commander al-Muhandis.
A group of mourners holding pictures of Qasem Soleimani senior Iranian commander, in Baghdad on Jan. 4, 2020. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
The attack took place on the road leading to Baghdad International Airport.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani have vowed to retaliate against the United States over Soleimani's death.
Friday's attack came just days after Iraqi protesters stormed the U.S. embassy in Baghdad over the U.S. air raids on Dec. 29 against five bases of Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria that claimed the lives of 25 militants. ■
