On Wednesday, the US carried out a drone strike, eliminating a senior commander of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed group linked to the drone attack in Jordan that killed three American troops, according to the US military. The drone strike, reportedly hitting a car in Baghdad, resulted in the death of three Kataib Hezbollah members, including a high-ranking commander, identified as Abu Baqir al-Saad.
The targeted vehicle was associated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state security agency with ties to Iran, including members from Kataib Hezbollah. The strike in Iraq was in response to attacks on US service members, specifically targeting a Kataib Hezbollah commander involved in planning and executing attacks on US forces in the region. The US military emphasized that there was no collateral damage or civilian casualties.
This strike follows recent US military airstrikes on sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, a response to the drone attack in Jordan that claimed the lives of three US soldiers the previous month. The ongoing attacks on US and allied forces in the Middle East, numbering over 165 since mid-October, are believed to be orchestrated by Iran-backed groups upset over Washington’s support for Israel amid the conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
After the January drone strike on US forces, which the Pentagon attributed to Kataib Hezbollah, the group declared a suspension of military operations against American military personnel in the region.
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