Thousands of protesters broke through the wall and stormed the US embassy in Baghdad, forcing the US ambassador and his staff to evacuate.

Thousands of Iraqi protesters today surrounded the US embassy headquarters, broke walls and chanted anti-American slogans to protest the Pentagon air strikes against pro-Iranian militants in the territory. Iraq over the weekend.

Protesters threw rocks at the embassy and sabotaged security cameras on the wall, while US marines guarding the embassy fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Two Iraqi Foreign Ministry officials said US ambassadors and embassy staff in Baghdad were evacuated for security reasons, with only a few security guards staying on duty.

The United States on December 29 attacked three positions of pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollah on Iraqi and Syrian territory to "respond to repeated assaults on bases serving Inherent Resolve in Iraq". 25 Kataib Hezbollah gunmen were killed, at least 51 people were injured in the air raids.

Washington previously accused Kataib Hezbollah of launching more than 30 rockets on December 27 against a base near the city of Kirkuk, Iraq. The attack killed an American civil contractor, four US soldiers and two Iraqi soldiers were injured.

Kataib Hezbollah is an Iranian Shiite militia group trained and supported against the US military after the 2003 campaign to overthrow Saddam Hussein. (IS) self-proclaimed and approved by the Baghdad government.