United States kills leader of pro-Iranian militia blamed for attacks in Iraq

American army carried out A counter-attack in Baghdad killed a militia leader who was blamed for recent attacks against his staffinformed reuters A Washington official.

Police sources and witnesses said a drone fired at least two rockets in eastern Baghdad that hit a building being used Iraqi terrorist group Harakat al-Nujabaa group of paramilitary forces Hashd al-ShaabiSupported by Iran.

Police and militia sources said the rockets hit a vehicle inside the headquarters Nujaba And they killed four peopleWhich includes a local commander of the group and one of his assistants. Health sources have confirmed the death toll.

US forces in Iraq have been attacked at least 100 times so far And Syria since the war started israel And Hamas In October, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones.

United States has 2,500 soldiers deployed in Iraq and 900 in Syria In an effort to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State,

“The Iraqi armed forces blame international coalition forces for this unfair attack “Against an Iraqi security unit,” the prime minister’s military spokesman said, referring to Thursday’s attack.

The statement described the militia group as an Iraqi army acting with the authority of the prime minister. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.

The US official said the vehicle was attacked with the intention of killing the militia leader and did so.

Videos posted by pro-militia websites show The vehicle was destroyed and caught fire, reuters was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the images.

Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria oppose Israel’s Gaza campaign And they hold the United States partly responsible.

first minister Al-Sudani has limited control over some Iranian-backed factionsWhose support he needed to come to power a year ago and who have now become a powerful faction in his government coalition.

Iraqi militia commanders threatened revenge. Abu Aqil al-Moussawi, commander of the local Iraqi militia, declared, “We will retaliate and make the Americans regret this aggression.”

The US military has responded to recent attacks by striking sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran and its proxy forces, including hashed sites. Last week, United States retaliated with air strikes in Iraq Following a drone strike by Iran-aligned militia that left one US service member in critical condition and two others injured.

Four years ago, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general was killed in a US drone strike in Baghdad. Qasim Sulemani, Whose memory was disturbed by an unprovoked bomb attack in southern Iran on Wednesday.

Soleimani led the Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which oversees military operations throughout the Middle East.

At least 84 people were killed in twin blasts in the southern Iranian city of Kerman on Wednesday, the anniversary of Soleimani’s death, according to Iranian officials.

(With information from Reuters and AFP)