After the Popular Mobilization Forces issued a call early Wednesday, saying the demonstrators' message had been heard, thousands of demonstrators who stormed the US embassy's perimeter and hurled rocks during two days of protests withdrew from the compound, ending a siege that had trapped American diplomats in the embassy overnight.

After the Popular Mobilization Forces issued a call early Wednesday, saying the demonstrators' message had been heard.
On the other hand, the US embassy in Baghdad announced in statement on Wednesday that consular services were suspended until further notice. "Due to militia attacks at the U.S. Embassy compound, all public consular operations are suspended until further notice.  All future appointments are cancelled.  U.S. citizens are advised to not approach the Embassy.  The U.S. Consulate General in Erbil is open for visa and American Citizen Services appointments," said the statement posted on the embassy website.

On 29 December 2019, the United States bombed the headquarters of of Kata'eb Hezbollah. The airstrikes targeted three Kata'eb Hezbollah locations in Iraq near Al-Qaim, and two in Syria, and included weapons depots and command posts. The attack was carried out on the pretext of retaliation after a barrage of over 30 rockets were fired towards the K-1 two days earlier and other attacks on bases with US forces in Iraq. The earlier attack killed a US contractor and wounded several Iraqi and US soldiers. Iraq's Health Ministry reported that 28 people were killed and 48 wounded in the attack. 

In response to the American bombing of the Kata'eb Hezbollah headquarters, protesters attacked the US embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad on 31 December 2019. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Kata'eb Hezbollah commander, was also among the protesters. (ILKHA)