Hundreds of people took to the streets of Toronto Saturday as part of international protests against the U.S.-led war in Iraq and Canada's military involvement in Afghanistan.

Carrying signs that said "Troops out of Iraq," hundreds of people gathered in front of the U.S. consulate in Toronto at 1 p.m. local time, reports reaching here said.

"We're here in Toronto and Canada to put Stephen Harper on notice that it's time for our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan," organizer Dylan Penner said.

Sid Lacombe, a member of the Canadian Peace Alliance (CPA), said he expected demonstrations to take place across Canada altogether in 36 different cities and towns on the third anniversary of the Iraq war.

The CPA has taken part in demonstrations on the previous two anniversaries of the invasion, but the situation is more dire now than ever before, Lacombe said.

"Quite clearly, we see there is no end to the violence in Iraq, " Lacombe said. "We also see that it is in fact the occupation itself that is causing an awful lot of the problems that are there. The occupation forces and the violence that they have brought upon Iraq is a significant reason as to why the violence continues."

Earlier Saturday, thousands of protestors in Australia, Turkey, and across a number of Asian countries were marching through cities and demanding that coalition troops pull out of the war- torn nation.

Police and authorities were also bracing for demonstrations that were planned in cities across Europe throughout the day.

Source: Xinhua