Tehran 05January_Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis chanting "Death to America" have joined the funeral procession for Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi anti-terror forces chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in Baghdad.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club(YJC)-The US assassination of the two commanders at Baghdad airport in the early hours of Friday has triggered a wave of rage among Iranians and Iraqis, and forged an unprecedented unity with vociferous calls for revenge.
Both Soleimani and Muhandis were popular figureheads in helping squelch an ominous rise of Daesh which once came as close as 30 km to Baghdad, while the US withdrew troops from Iraq and looked on.
Images of the Iranian commander tagging along with Iraqi fighters at frontlines as the ferocious battle against Daesh terrorists went on are endearingly etched in the minds of many Iraqis.
Their massive turnout in Saturday's funeral is both a testimony to Soleimani's popularity among many Iraqis and a message to the US which made its stay in the Arab country more unwelcome with the extrajudicial killing, observers say.
In all, 10 people -- five Iraqis and five Iranians -- were killed in Friday morning's US strike on their motorcade just outside Baghdad airport as Soleimani's flight arrived from Syria, leading to speculations that Israeli intelligence played a role.
On Saturday, Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi joined Muhandis associate Hadi al-Ameri, senior cleric Ammar al-Hakim and other important figures in a large crowd accompanying the coffins.