Baghdad: Funeral March marks the anniversary of Soleimani’s killing
A mock funeral march marks the anniversary of the killing of Iran’s top general and a senior Iraqi militia leader in a US drone attack, which raised concerns of a military escalation in the region.
Indeed, thousands of people participated, Saturday evening in the march on the highway leading to the Baghdad airport, where the attack that killed Qassem Soleimani and senior Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis occurred.
Soleimani’s assassination led to the increase of tensions in the region and brought the US and Iran to the brink of war. Pictures of the dead men decorated the two sides of the road, where there were tents that served food and drinks for those who walked on the highway. The attack scene was turned into a shrine-like area sealed off by red ropes, with a picture of Soleimani and al-Muhandis in the middle, while funeral-goers lit candles.
Moreover, shrapnel marks remained visible on the walls in the area. Soleimani directed Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, responsible for Iran’s foreign operations.
In fact, the march came as Iraq’s military stated that explosives experts with its naval forces successfully dismantled a mine that was discovered fixed to an oil vessel in the Arabian Gulf two days earlier.
