Iraqi protesters try to storm US Embassy in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AA) - Outraged Iraqi protesters on Tuesday tried to storm the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, protesting Washington's attacks on armed battalions belong to Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi forces.

At least 25 people were killed in weekend U.S. airstrikes on positions of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia group, in Iraq and Syria.

Hundreds of Iraqi protesters gathered early Tuesday near the embassy to show their anger at the U.S. move.

Iraq’s Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks, calling them “a clear violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.”

"Iraq is an independent country,” said a ministry statement, adding that it will not allow Iraq to be turned into “a battlefield or a crossing point for an attack, or its territories to be used to target neighboring countries."

The U.S. ambassador in Baghdad will be summoned to deliver the statement to his superiors, said the statement.