Thousands of supporters of the populist Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr have gathered in Baghdad for a rally to demand the removal of US troops from the country, putting the protest-hit capital on edge.

The march rattled the separate, months-old protest movement that has gripped Baghdad and the Shia-majority south since October, demanding a government overhaul, early elections and more accountability.

In the early hours of Friday, thousands of men, women and children of all ages massed under grey skies in the Jadiriyah district of east Baghdad. “Get out, get out, occupier!” some shouted, while others chanted: “Yes to sovereignty!”

A representative of Sadr took to the stage at the protest site and read out a statement by the influential Shia cleric and populist politician.

It called for all foreign forces to leave Iraq, the cancellation of Iraq’s security agreements with the US, the closure of Iraqi airspace to American military and surveillance aircraft and for the US president, Donald Trump, not to be “arrogant” when addressing Iraqi officials.

“If all this is implemented, we will deal with it as a non-occupying country – otherwise it will be considered a country hostile to Iraq,” the statement said.

Protesters then began peeling away from the square, tossing their signs in bins along the way, but thousands lingered in the rally camp.

The US military presence has been a contentious issue in Iraq since a US drone strike killed the Iranian general Qassem Suleimani and the Iraqi paramilitary leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis outside Baghdad airport on 3 January.

Two days later, parliament voted for all foreign troops, including 5,200 US personnel, to leave the country.

The vote was non-binding and the US special envoy for the coalition against Islamic State, James Jeffrey, said on Thursday there was no “real engagement” between the two governments on the issue.

Joint US-Iraqi operations against Isis have been on hold since the drone attack, which triggered retaliatory Iranian missile strikes against US troops in Iraq.

No Iraqi or US personnel were killed in Iran’s strikes.

Long opposed to the US troop presence, Sadr seized on public anger over the drone strike to call “a million-strong, peaceful, unified demonstration to condemn the American presence and its violations”.

Several pro-Iran factions from the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force, usually rivals of Sadr, backed his call.

Separate anti-government protesters fear their cause could be eclipsed by Sadr’s powerplay. “Sadr doesn’t represent us,” one teenager said defiantly late on Thursday on a blocked-off thoroughfare in Baghdad.

To head off Friday’s gathering and increase pressure on authorities to enact reforms, amid violence that has left 470 people dead since October, young demonstrators blocked streets in Baghdad and across the south this week.

There had been worries that angry crowds might attack the presidential palace or the high-security Green Zone, home to the US embassy and other foreign missions.

Such a move would not be without precedent for Sadr, who urged followers to storm the Green Zone in 2016 in a challenge to the government over undelivered reforms. But there were no attempts on Friday morning to attack government buildings.