BAGHDAD: Thousands of mourners gathered on Saturday for a funeral procession through Baghdad for Iran's top general and other militants killed in a US airstrike.
Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds force and mastermind of its regional security strategy, was killed in an airstrike overnight Friday near the Iraqi capital's airport.
Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi also attended the funeral. He joined Shiite cleric Ammar Al-Hakim and other pro-Iran figures in a large crowd accompanying the coffins.
Iran has vowed harsh retaliation, raising fears of an all-out war. US President Donald Trump says he ordered the strike to prevent a conflict.
Many of the mourners were dressed in black, and they carried Iraqi flags and the flags of Iran-backed militias that are fiercely loyal to Soleimani.
