The US announced yesterday that it killed a “commander” of the pro-Iran Iraqi militia Kataeb Hizbulah during a bombing in eastern Baghdad, reported the Central Command of the US Armed Forces (Centcom, in English). According to him, the man was “directly responsible” for planning the attacks by this paramilitary group, which belongs to the Islamic Resistance Movement of Iraq, against the United States forces deployed in the Middle East.
According to Baghdad Police, at least two other people were killed in the attack, which was carried out with drones that targeted an all-terrain vehicle carrying members of pro-Iranian Iraqi militias. A large crowd approached the scene. Authorities reported that the deceased were Abu Baqir al Saadi, the commander in charge of Kataeb Hizbulah operations in Syria; and Arkan al Alaywi, also a member of the same militia, as well as another third person, whose identity is not yet known and who supposedly belongs to the Al Nujaba movement. Kataeb Hizbulah confirmed the death of its leader in the “bombing by US occupation forces.”
Both Al Nujaba and Kataeb Hizbulah are part of the Popular Multitude militia group, de facto integrated into the Iraqi Armed Forces and whose positions were attacked on February 2 by the US after three US soldiers died on January 28 in an attack by these groups in Jordan, near the Syrian border.
Both formations are also part of the amalgamation of pro-Iran militias Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has launched more than 160 attacks against Washington positions on Iraqi and Syrian soil since the start of the war in Gaza, on October 7.
Centcom did not mention the other two people who allegedly died in the bombing, which occurred around 9:30 p.m. local time, limiting itself to stating that there are “no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties at this time.”
It remains to be seen whether the United States notified the Iraqi government of the bombing that occurred on its territory. The attack perpetrated by the US on February 2 against the Popular Multitude militias occurred without prior warning, and the Iraqi Executive described it as a violation of its sovereignty.
This new bombing occurs in the midst of Iraq’s negotiations with the United States to establish a schedule for the presence of foreign troops from the Arab country, which could end the international coalition’s mission against the Islamic State terrorist group after a decade. of operations.
