US kills Iraqi militia leader in drone strike on Baghdad: Pentagon kills commander blaming it for attacks on US troops
The US military was behind a drone strike in Baghdad that killed an Iraqi militia leader accused of attacking US forces in the country, a senior US official said.
It comes at a time when growing regional tensions due to the conflict in Gaza threaten to spread across borders, sparking a regional war in the Middle East.
The deputy chief of operations in Baghdad said this, according to the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF). Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi was killed in the attack.
The group is linked to the Iraqi armed forces, but the government in Baghdad has only limited control over its activities.
The US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the attack targeted a leader of Harakat al Nujaba, a Shiite militia that is part of the PMF, without naming the individual.
Iraqi security forces arrive at the site where Al-Nujaba senior commander Abu Taqwa Al-Saidi was killed in a US drone strike on January 4 in Baghdad, Iraq.
Medical teams take the injured and dead to hospitals after the drone strike
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry condemned the attack.
“Iraq reserves the right to take a firm position and take all measures that deter anyone who attempts to harm its country and security forces,” it said.
The airstrike is the latest in a series of killings in the region as Iranian-backed groups flex their muscles and the US and Israel respond.
Iraqi police sources and witnesses said a drone in eastern Baghdad fired at least two missiles at a facility used by the Iraqi militia group al-Nujaba.
The Iranian-backed organization was designated a terrorist group by the Trump administration in 2019.
At the time, it reportedly commanded about 10,000 fighters and was once seen as one of the top recruiters sending foreign fighters into Syria to fight the Islamic State.
Today it is among the militias that have carried out more than 100 attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria since the Palestinian terrorist group killed 1,200 Israelis on October 7.
The result is a series of provocations that risk further inflaming tensions or sparking a bigger war.
Lebanese officials accuse Israel of using a drone to kill a senior Hamas commander in Beirut on Tuesday.
Saleh Arouri, the group’s deputy political head, had long been a target of Israel.
Investigators stand at an apartment building where an apparent Israeli attack killed top Hamas political leader Saleh Arouri on Tuesday, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold
Arouri was one of the most influential figures within Hamas and lived in the southern suburbs of Beirut under the protection of Hezbollah until his death after an Israeli attack.
The bodies of victims of the explosions lie in a hospital in the southern Iranian city of Kerman on January 3, 2024
Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah group, a powerful ally of Hamas, has previously vowed to strike back against any Israeli attack on Palestinian officials in Lebanon, saying of the attack: “This crime will never pass without response and punishment.”
A day later, two explosions ripped through a ceremony commemorating the death of Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ top commander Qassem Soleimani, killing at least 100 people in the country’s southeastern city of Kerman.
Iranian and US officials say the attacks appear to be the work of terrorists, although no one has claimed responsibility.
At the same time, Iran-backed Houthi rebels are attacking international shipping in the Red Sea.
A senior US official described how they had boosted their capabilities with the first-ever use of an anti-ship ballistic missile last weekend.
Houthi forces stand guard during a protest against a multinational operation to protect shipping in the Red Sea and in solidarity with the Palestinian people, in Sana’a, Yemen
On Wednesday, the US and 11 international partners demanded an immediate end to the attacks.
“Let our message now be clear: we call for an immediate end to these illegal attacks and the release of unlawfully detained ships and crews,” said the statement signed by governments of the US, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
“The Houthis will bear responsibility for the consequences if they continue to threaten lives, the global economy and the free flow of trade in the region’s critical waterways.”
The response came after President Joe Biden convened his national security team on New Year’s Day to discuss the escalation of incidents.
And a senior government official later said the Houthis should not expect a second warning.