WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st January, 2020) President Donald Trump during a phone call with Iraq's Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi underscored the need for the country to protect US personnel and facilities amid protests at the American Embassy in Baghdad, the White House said in a readout of a phone call on Tuesday.
"The two leaders discussed regional security issues and President Trump emphasized the need to protect United States personnel and facilities in Iraq," the readout said.
Iraqi protesters earlier in the day stormed the embassy in Baghdad and torched its outer fence in protest against recent airstrikes that targeted the Kata'ib Hezbollah militia in Iraq and Syria.
Protesters continue to attempt to break into the US Embassy as American soldiers assigned to guard the diplomatic compound remain barricaded inside, according to media reports.
�The protests come after the Pentagon on Sunday said it carried out "defensive strikes" against five Kata'ib Hezbollah facilities in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the Iranian-backed group's attack on a US base near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk that left one US defense contractor dead and four American soldiers wounded on Friday.
