At least 4 members, together with a senior commander of a pro-Iran faction have been killed and 7 others have been wounded in a U.S. drone strike within the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Thursday.
“A drone targeted the logistical support headquarters of Hashed al-Shaabi,” primarily pro-Iranian former paramilitary items built-in into the Iraqi armed forces, a safety official mentioned.
Harakat al-Nujaba, one of many Hashed’s factions, mentioned in an announcement that “the deputy commander of operations for Baghdad, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi” had been “martyred in a U.S. strike.”
A U.S. official, who spoke to Reuters on situation of anonymity, later confirmed that the strike hit a automobile in Baghdad. It focused a pacesetter of Harakat al-Nujaba, the official mentioned, with out naming the particular person.
The strike was swiftly condemned by the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s workplace, labeling it “a blatant aggression” in addition to “a dangerous escalation and assault.”
“The Iraqi armed forces hold the global coalition forces responsible for this unwarranted attack,” a spokesperson for al-Sudani mentioned in an announcement.
Hadi al-Ameri, a senior commander of the Hashed al-Shaabi, condemned what he described as a “heinous crime committed by the criminal American forces,” demanding the “immediate departure” of the worldwide coalition.
The assault comes amid heightened regional tensions amid U.S. ally Israel’s brutal warfare on the Gaza Strip, triggered by the lethal Oct. 7 Hamas incursion.
Videos shared on a Telegram channel linked to the Hashed al-Shaabi confirmed columns of smoke rising above the world of the strike on Baghdad’s Palestine avenue, usually a bustling industrial street.
Last month, the United States additionally carried out retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq after a drone assault by Iran-aligned militants that left one U.S. service member in essential situation and wounded two others.
The U.S. army has come beneath assault a minimum of 100 occasions in Iraq and Syria since Israel’s warfare on Gaza started in October, normally with a mixture of rockets and one-way assault drones.
Source: www.dailysabah.com