Crowds gather in Baghdad to mourn military leaders killed by US airstrike - CNN International

Assifa Abbas, 50, is one of the thousands of Iraqis attending the funeral procession of Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. The atmosphere in the streets is a mixture of sadness and defiance.

Abbas, a mother of three fighters of the Popular Mobilization Units, the Iran-backed Iraqi militia, said she was hoping the attack will mark the end of America's presence in Iraq.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the militia was killed alongside Soleimani.

"This strike killed our heroes but it created a thousand more Hajji Soleimanis and Muhandis's," she told CNN.

"If the parliament doesn't vote to expel the Americans, it will see the true face of the Iraqi street," she added.

Assifa Abbas is hoping for the end of the US presence in Iraq. Photo: Tamara Qiblawi/CNN

Former MP and a Turkmen leader, Fawzi Akram, is also hoping for the US withdrawal. "We hope this will result in the expulsion of the Americans ... the map of a new Iraq will be drawn with (Muhandis's) blood," he told CNN.

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