ALBAWABA - The United States said Sunday it had ordered non-emergency staff and eligible family members to leave its embassy in Baghdad and its consulate in Arbil, Iraq, AFP reported.
The U.S. State Department said in a statement that "due to increased security threats against US personnel and interests,". The department also updated its travel advisory to a level four, the highest possible, warning US citizens not to travel to Iraq.
The evacuation order was prompted by the surge in attacks on US forces in Iraq in recent days, as the United States has given its immense support to Israel in its latest brutal aggression against Gaza.
Thousands of Iraqis have taken to the streets over the past week in solidarity with the people of Gaza as the Israeli Army continues to brutally halt down on the 2.2 million residents of the besieged Gaza Strip.
Iraqi activists called for demonstrations across Baghdad last weekend to support "besieged" Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, despite Israel's continued war and occupation.
According to a statement received by the Iraqi News Agency, activists said in their statement: "The Preparatory Committee announced the organization of massive popular demonstrations in Baghdad and the rest of the country’s governorates, in support of the brothers in Palestine and in solidarity with the besieged Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian resistance factions in the face of the usurping Israeli occupation,".
"We call on all social and popular (activists), unions and federations to actively participate in this mass mobilization in support for the brothers and (resistance fighters) in occupied Palestine," the statement added.
