A video being circulated on social media appears to show the Iraqi flag being raised over the Iranian embassy in Iraq during the protests. Additional videos showed protesters burning Iranian flags.#baghdad protesters are accusing the black fask mask forces of being Iranian pic.twitter.com/nnCCQONhos
— Steven nabil (@thestevennabil) October 3, 2019
Last week, a top commander from Iraq's Counter-Terrorism Service was decommissioned, in a move that may have been pushed for by the PMF.Ghaleb al-Shabandar, a political commentator, described the move as "the beginning of the Iraqi army’s dismantling and handover to the Hashed and other armed groups."Staff Lt.-Gen. Abdulwahab al-Saadi helped recapture Mosul from ISIS in 2017, served in the CTS, which was created and trained by the United States.Saadi said he considered the shift to a position at the Defense Ministry as an "insult" and a "punishment" on Friday.The hashtag "We are all Abdulwahab al-Saadi" began trending on Twitter, with pictures of the commander aiding civilians in Mosul and other cities, as Iraqis across the country responded with shock."He won the people’s friendship but the [politicians’] hatred," said one supporter, while another said that there was "no more space for patriots in this country."Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this story.#العراق_ينتفض انزال العلم الايراني واستبداله ب العلم العراقي في السفارة الايرانية في بغداد pic.twitter.com/oRpJAKRmWy
— Laieth Alrawi (@alrawi_laieth) October 4, 2019