Following the US airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, a top Iranian general, the United States government has issued an advisory urging its citizens to depart from Iraq immediately. The airstrike took place at the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq.
Reporting earlier, Soleimani, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the leader of Kata’ib Hezbollah, also known as Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), was killed in the airstrike.
In the wake of the airstrike, both the US embassy in Baghdad and the State Department issued a security alert directing all American citizens to promptly leave Iraq.
The embassy’s statement emphasized, “Due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region, the US Embassy urges American citizens to heed the January 2020 Travel Advisory and depart Iraq immediately. US citizens should depart via airline while possible, and failing that, to other countries via land.”
It further added that US citizens should refrain from approaching the embassy and highlighted that the consulate general in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, would remain open for appointments.
Shortly after the airstrike, Iran vowed “harsh retaliation” against the US for the killing of Qassem Soleimani at the Baghdad International Airport.