Massive crowds have gathered in Baghdad for a funeral procession for Iran’s elite Quds Force leader, Qassem Soleimani, Iraqi militia chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and others people killed in a US drone strike on Friday.

Mourners and supporters of Major General Soleimani and al-Muhandis, who was the deputy commander of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), are holding photos of both men along with Iraqi flags and flags of the Shia group Hezbollah. Many are dressed in black and are heard chanting “death to America.”

Iraq’s prime minister, Adel Abdel Mahdi, is also attending the ceremony. He stepped down in November amid mass anti-government protests, but has retained his post in a caretaker capacity.

The procession carrying the caskets of Soleimani and al-Muhandis, which are draped with Iranian and Iraqi flags respectively, moved from Kadhimiya, a Shia pilgrimage site in Baghdad, to the Green Zone government block for the state funeral.

Soleimani’s remains are expected to be transported to Iran, where a burial will take place in his hometown, Kerman on Sunday.

Both men were killed at Baghdad’s airport as they were about to drive to the Iraqi capital. Washington has said that by killing Soleimani, future Iranian attacks on American military personnel and civilians in Iraq and other places abroad have been prevented.

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