Iraq: Protesters storm MBC channel headquarters in Baghdad

2020-05-19 12:49:12

Iraqi protesters yesterday stormed the headquarters of the Saudi-owned MBC channel in Baghdad to protest against what they deemed to be “insults” against the former commander of the Popular Mobilisation Forces Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Last week, the channel labelled Al-Muhandis a “terrorist”, accusing him of assassinating the wife of Syrian poet, Nizar Qabbani, in a 1981 bombing of the Iraqi embassy in Beirut. In January, the United States assassinated Al-Muhandis, along with the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Qasem Soleimani, in a drone strike in Baghdad. MBC condemned the “attack” against its studios in Baghdad and called on authorities and security forces to follow up on the issue, adding that it had suffered material damage.