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An airstrike on the logistical assist headquarters of an Iran-backed militia in central Baghdad Thursday killed a high-ranking militia commander, militia officers stated. The airstrike was carried out by america, a U.S. official informed CBS Information.
Thursday’s strike comes amid mounting regional tensions fueled by the Israel-Hamas conflict and fears that it might spill over into surrounding nations. It additionally coincides with a push by Iraqi officers for US-led coalition forces to go away the nation.
The Standard Mobilization Power – a coalition of militias that’s nominally beneath the management of the Iraqi navy – introduced in an announcement that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, or “Abu Taqwa,” had been killed “on account of brutal American aggression.”
It was not instantly clear who had carried out the strike.
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP through Getty Photographs
Iraqi navy spokesman Yehia Rasool stated in an announcement that the Iraqi military “holds the Worldwide Coalition Forces liable for this unprovoked assault on an Iraqi safety physique working in accordance with the powers granted to it by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.”
In an announcement, Iraq’s Overseas Ministry referred to as the strike “a harmful escalation” and stated “that Iraq reserves its proper to take a agency stance and all crucial measures to discourage anybody who tries to hurt its territory and its safety forces.”
Officers with the U.S. navy and embassy in Baghdad didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
The first mission of the U.S.-led coalition is to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, which continues to hold out periodic assaults in Iraq regardless of having misplaced its maintain on the territory it as soon as managed in 2017. Since then, the coalition has transitioned from a fight position to an advisory and coaching mission.
The PMF, a gaggle of Iranian-backed, primarily Shiite militias, had been additionally key within the combat in opposition to the Sunni extremist group after it overran a lot of Iraq in 2014. The PMF is formally beneath the command of the Iraqi military, however in apply the militias function independently.
Thursday’s strike killed two folks and wounded 5, in line with two militia officers who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t licensed to talk publicly.
One of many officers stated al-Saidi was driving into the storage of the headquarters affiliated with the al-Nujaba militia, one of many members of the PMF, together with one other militia official when the automobile was hit, killing each.
Heavy safety was deployed across the location of the strike on Baghdad’s Palestine Avenue, and Related Press journalists weren’t allowed to method the focused space. Iraqi conflict planes could possibly be seen flying overhead.
Because the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict on Oct. 7, a gaggle of Iranian-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has carried out greater than 100 assaults on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria.
The group has stated the assaults are in retaliation for Washington’s assist of Israel within the conflict in opposition to Hamas that has killed greater than 20,000 folks in Gaza, and that they goal to push U.S. forces out of Iraq.
Thursday’s strike is prone to improve requires a U.S. departure.
Final week, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani – who got here to energy with the backing of Iran-linked political factions however has additionally tried to keep up good relations with the U.S. – stated his authorities is “is continuing to finish the presence of the worldwide coalition forces.”
The strike additionally comes two days after a suspected Israeli drone strike within the suburbs of Beirut killed Hamas deputy chief Saleh Arouri.
Requested whether or not Israel had involvement in Thursday’s strike in Baghdad, an Israeli navy spokesperson declined to remark.
Extra from CBS Information
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