Iran's Soleimani was responsible for 17 percent of US troops killed in Iraq war, State Department says
Lucas Tomlison reports from the Pentagon on the influence slain Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani had in the Middle East.
Satellite images show the recent protests in Baghdad that saw pro-Iran militiamen and their supporters attempt to storm the U.S. Embassy.
The images were captured by Maxar Technologies’ WorldView-3 Earth Observation Satellite on Jan. 1.
“The imagery, collected at 11:21 AM local time, reveals crowds of people gathered along the street adjacent to the compound," Maxar explained in a statement emailed to Fox News. Small fires can be seen burning on a building and sentry box near the compound, it added.
DOZENS BREAK INTO US EMBASSY COMPOUND IN BAGHDAD IN RESPONSE TO AIRSTRIKES, REPORT SAYS
Satellite image of crowds at the eastern entrance to the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Jan. 1, 2020. (Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies)
Iran-backed militias attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on New Year’s Eve. The two-day embassy attack, which ended Wednesday, prompted President Donald Trump to order about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East.
The breach at the embassy followed U.S. airstrikes Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said the strikes were in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia.
IRAN-BACKED MILITIAMEN WITHDRAW FROM SIEGE OF US EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD AS MORE AMERICAN TROOPS DEPLOYED
Satellite image of crowds and a small fire at the western entrance to the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Jan. 1, 2020. (Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies)
Early on Friday the U.S. killed Iran's top general and the architect of Tehran’s proxy wars in the Middle East in an airstrike at Baghdad's international airport.
The Defense Department said it killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, because he “was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region."
It also accused Soleimani of approving the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.
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In the wake of Soleimani’s death, the U.S. said that it will send 3,000 more troops to the Middle East.
Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson, Lucia I. Suarez Sang, Charles Creitz and The Associated Press contributed to this article.
Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers