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Iraqi Government Takes Security Measures to Protect Embassies in Baghdad

Iraqi security forces in Baghdad (File photo: Reuters)
Iraqi security forces in Baghdad (File photo: Reuters)
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Iraqi Government Takes Security Measures to Protect Embassies in Baghdad

Iraqi security forces in Baghdad (File photo: Reuters)
Iraqi security forces in Baghdad (File photo: Reuters)

Iraq's Joint Operations Command of the Defense Ministry directed the necessity of strengthening security measures at the foreign embassies in Baghdad, namely those of countries that expressed "negative positions" regarding the events in the Gaza Strip.

The Joint Operations instructed the Directorate of Police for the Protection of Embassies and Diplomats to boost the units and security measures near the Turkish Cultural Center in al-Weziriye, the Ukrainian and Bahraini embassies in al-Mansour area, and the French embassy on al-Saadoun Street near Kahramana Square.

Concerning the US and British embassies in the Green Zone, the joint operations instructed the command of the Special Division to take the necessary security measures.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi government announced Thursday that Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani had directed a dispatch of humanitarian aid to the besieged Gaza Strip.

Iraq’s government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement that, in coordination with the Egyptian authorities, Iraq decided to send medical and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

Furthermore, the leader of the Sadr Movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, called for a million-man protest that brought together the Iraqi people from numerous governorates after Friday prayers against the occupation.

Also, Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Ali al-Sistani called on the world to stand up to the "terrible brutality" happening in Gaza and prevent Israel from inflicting further harm on the Palestinian people.

Prominent Shiite leader Bashir al-Najafi urged the "honorable people of the world" to stand firmly with the Palestinian people, defending their natural rights to reclaim their usurped land.

In a statement released by his office, he emphasized that eradicating this "cancerous tumor" requires the collective efforts of honorable believers.

In addition, the Secretary-General of the Islamic Dawa Party in Iraq and former Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, warned foreign countries against providing military aid to Israel because it would expand the scope of the war.

Maliki warned in a video message that any military assistance to Israelis represents an actual participation in the war against the Palestinian people.

He asserted that ISIS and Zionism are two sides of the same coin, saluting the Palestinian people in their battle against the Zionist entity.

Maliki said that the organized killing of Palestinians in Gaza by the Zionist military machine represents a continuation of the Zionist doctrine of brutal genocide.

The former official noted that this is a "disgrace on the foreheads of countries that say they defend rights and incite the Zionist entity to commit crimes."

"Where are the United Nations, the international system, where are human rights, and is there anything worse than what we are seeing today regarding support for the treacherous Zionist war machine?" wondered Maliki, referring to the Muslim and Arab countries supporting Palestinians and their rights.

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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
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Kurdish Fighters Leave Northern City in Syria as Part of Deal with Central Government

A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)
A first contingent of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters leave Aleppo, headed for SDF-controlled northeastern Syria, in Aleppo, Syria, 04 April 2025. (EPA)

Scores of US-backed Kurdish fighters left two neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo Friday as part of a deal with the central government in Damascus, which is expanding its authority in the country.

The fighters left the predominantly Kurdish northern neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh, which had been under the control of Kurdish fighters in Aleppo over the past decade.

The deal is a boost to an agreement reached last month between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s northeast. The deal could eventually lead to the merger of the main US-backed force in Syria into the Syrian army.

The withdrawal of fighters from the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) came a day after dozens of prisoners from both sides were freed in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

Syria’s state news agency, SANA, reported that government forces were deployed along the road that SDF fighters will use to move between Aleppo and areas east of the Euphrates River, where the Kurdish-led force controls nearly a quarter of Syria.

Sheikh Maksoud and Achrafieh had been under SDF control since 2015 and remained so even when forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad captured Aleppo in late 2016. The two neighborhoods remained under SDF control when forces loyal to current interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa captured the city in November, and days later captured the capital, Damascus, removing Assad from power.

After being marginalized for decades under the rule of the Assad family rule, the deal signed last month promises Syria’s Kurds “constitutional rights,” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades.

Hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, will return to their homes. Thousands of Kurds living in Syria who have been deprived of nationality for decades under Assad will be given the right of citizenship, according to the agreement.

Kurds made up 10% of the country’s prewar population of 23 million. Kurdish leaders say they don’t want full autonomy with their own government and parliament. They want decentralization and room to run their day-to day-affairs.