STORY: Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi holds funeral for killed members
SHOOTING TIME: July 31, 2024
DATELINE: Aug. 1, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:28
LOCATION: Baghdad
CATEGORY: MILITARY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of people participating in the funeral
2. SOUNDBITE (Arabic): ABU ALI, Mourner

STORYLINE:

A funeral for four Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi fighters was held in Baghdad, Iraq, on Wednesday.

Unknown drones bombed a military base of the Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces in Babil province on Tuesday, leaving four fighters killed, including a commander named Ahmed Najam Abdul-Zahra.

Iraq held the U.S.-led coalition forces responsible for repercussions of the attack, Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasoul said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement issued by the al-Jazira Operations Command of the Hashd Shaabi forces accused the United States of conducting three drone attacks on the paramilitary 47th Brigade in the Jurf al-Nasr area.

Such attacks can significantly undermine all efforts, mechanisms, and frameworks of joint security work to combat the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, Rasoul warned, adding that the attack also risks dragging Iraq and the entire region into dangerous conflicts and wars.

SOUNDBITE (Arabic): ABU ALI, Mourner
"We demand the immediate withdrawal of the American troops from Iraq, otherwise, our blood will continue to bleed for no reason. The Americans do not want this country to be good, and they are the ones who brought IS and terrorism to destroy this country. They want to either stay in this country to plunder its goods or they will kill people."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Baghdad.
(XHTV)