Heightened security presence around US embassy in Baghdad amidst tensions

Shafaq News / A high deployment of security forces has been reported on Friday in the vicinity of the US Embassy located in the fortified Green Zone of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, according to a responsible security source.

The source informed Shafaq News Agency that more than 3,000 security personnel have arrived near the US Embassy as a precautionary measure in anticipation of a demonstration by certain Shiite factions protesting against a recent US report published by the Middle East Monitor. The report allegedly stated that the United States is planning to target some Shiite armed faction leaders in Iraq.

It is worth noting that supporters of Iraqi Shiite factions affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) had forcibly entered the external gate of the fortified US Embassy compound in the Green Zone at the end of 2019. This incident marked the first breach since the embassy's construction following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in the spring of 2003.

The breach occurred in response to an American airstrike that targeted sites belonging to the Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades, resulting in the death and injury of dozens of fighters.