A high-ranking commander of a pro-Iranian militia has been killed in Baghdad. The Iraqi army blames the US for al-Saidi’s death. US security circles speak of an attack against the Al-Nujaba militia.
According to security circles, at least two members of a powerful pro-Iranian militia, including a high-ranking commander, were killed in a suspected US airstrike in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
The dpa news agency learned from security circles that the attack hit a facility belonging to the so-called umbrella organization of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the east of the city. Six other militia members were injured. The association is a coalition of predominantly Shiite, Iran-backed militias that are nominally under the control of the Iraqi military. In practice, however, they act independently.
An Iraqi army spokesman confirmed the attack and blamed the US. The attack was carried out with a drone and was an “unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security organ,” said the spokesman. A militia-affiliated TV station reported an attack with three rockets.
The attack apparently took place in the garage
PMF sources said two people were killed and five others were injured in the attack. The deputy chief of operations in Baghdad, Mushtak Taleb al-Saidi, was driving a car into the Al-Nujaba militia’s garage when the car was hit, it was said. Images on social media showed the wreckage of the car, which appeared to have been hit.
Al-Saidi, known as Abu Takwa, was killed “as a result of brutal American aggression,” the PMF sources said.
Ambulances line up outside a Popular Mobilization Force headquarters after it was hit by an airstrike.
USGovernment circles confirm attack on militia vehicle
US government circles confirmed an attack by US troops on a vehicle belonging to the al-Nujaba militia. The military took action against a leader of the group. A name was not given. The leader and another person were killed in the attack. There is currently no official confirmation of the attack by the USA. The Al-Nujaba militia is part of the PMF and was designated a terrorist organization by Washington in 2019.
The Reuters news agency spoke of four dead and six injured, referring to police and security circles. The different information about the attack cannot currently be independently verified.
US military attacked many times in the region
The attack came against a backdrop of increasing regional tensions, driven by the war between Israel and the radical Islamist Hamas. Since the start of the war, the US military has been attacked in Iraq and Syria at least 100 times.
Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria oppose Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip. In their opinion, the USA is partly to blame for the situation. The US military responded to the attacks with several air strikes in Iraq.
The US – Israel’s most important ally – and its troops are heavily targeted by pro-Iranian militias in the region. Iran wants to use them to create an “axis of resistance” against Israel. In Iraq, the militias are also demanding a withdrawal of the approximately 2,500 remaining US troops. The coalition’s main mission is the fight against the terrorist group IS, which still carries out sporadic attacks in Iraq. The coalition now primarily has an advisory and training function.