In a targeted operation that escalates US military actions in Iraq, the Pentagon confirmed the killing of a commander from the Iran-backed militia, Kataib Hezbollah, in a targeted strike in Baghdad. This move comes amidst growing tensions in the region, with the US attributing a series of attacks on its forces to the group.
The US military, in a statement, announced that it conducted a “unilateral strike” in response to assaults on its service members, eliminating a key figure within Kataib Hezbollah responsible for orchestrating attacks against US forces. The identity of the commander was not disclosed, maintaining a veil of secrecy over the operation’s specifics.
Security sources, preferring anonymity, identified the deceased as Abu Baqir al-Saadi. He was reportedly killed in a drone attack that targeted a vehicle in eastern Baghdad, a region fraught with geopolitical complexities. The strike also reportedly claimed the lives of two other individuals, further intensifying the scrutiny on US military engagements in the area.
U.S. President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Air Force General Charles Q. Brown attend the dignified transfer of the remains of Army Reserve Sergeants William Rivers, Kennedy Sanders and Breonna Moffett, three U.S. service members who were killed in Jordan during a drone attack carried out by Iran-backed militants, at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, U.S., February 2. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts
The vehicle, according to one security source, was associated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a collective of armed factions with strong ties to Iran, amongst which Kataib Hezbollah holds significant influence.
The background to this targeted killing is a series of reciprocal strikes between Iran-backed militias and US forces in Iraq and Syria, set against the wider context of the ongoing Gaza war that erupted in October. The Pentagon has signaled these actions as just the beginning of its retaliation for the deaths of three US soldiers earlier this year, attributing those attacks to Kataib Hezbollah’s aggressive posture.
As the cycle of violence continues, with both drone and rocket attacks becoming nearly daily occurrences, the region remains on edge. The US’s latest operation emphasizes the fraught relations between Washington and Tehran, with Iraq often serving as the battleground for their proxy conflicts.
In Baghdad, the response was immediate, with Iraqi special forces ramping up their alert levels and bolstering their presence in the Green Zone, home to numerous international diplomatic missions, including the US embassy.
