US kills Iraqi militia leader in drone strike on Baghdad: Pentagon slays commander it blames for attacks against American troops

The U.S. military was behind a drone strike in Baghdad that killed an Iraqi militia leader blamed for attacks against American forces in the country, according to a senior U.S. official.

It comes as growing regional tensions from the conflict in Gaza threaten to spread across borders, igniting a regional war in the Middle East.

The Popular Mobilisation Force (PMF)  said its deputy head of operations in Baghdad Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi was killed in the strike.

The group is linked to Iraq’s armed forces, but the government in Baghdad has only limited control over its activities.

The American official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike targeted a leader of Harakat al Nujaba, a Shia militia that forms part of the PMF, without naming the individual.

Iraq‘s foreign ministry condemned the attack. 

‘Iraq reserves its right to take a firm stance and take all measures that deter anyone who tries to harm its land and security forces,’ it said. 

The air strike is the latest in a string of killings across the region as Iranian-backed groups flex their muscles and the U.S. and Israel respond.

Iraqi police sources and witnesses said a drone fired at least two rockets in eastern Baghdad at a facility used by the Iraqi militia group al-Nujaba. 

The Iran-backed organization was designated a terrorist group in 2019 by the Trump administration.

At the time it reportedly commanded about 10,000 fighters and at one time was seen as one of the top recruiters sending foreign fighters to Syria to fight the Islamic State. 

Today it is one the militias that have carried out more than 100 attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria since the Palestinian terrorist group killed 1200 Israelis on Oct. 7. 

The result is a string of provocations that risk enflaming tensions further or sparking a bigger war.

Lebanese officials accuse Israel of using a drone to assassinate a senior Hamas commander in Beirut on Tuesday.

Saleh Arouri, the deputy political head of the group, had long been a target of Israel’s.

Lebanon’s heavily armed Hezbollah group, a powerful Hamas ally, previously vowed to strike back against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon, and said of the attack: ‘This crime will never pass without response and punishment.’

A day later two explosions ripped through a ceremony commemorating the death of top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Soleimani, killing at least 100 people in the country’s southeastern city of Kerman.

Iranian and U.S. officials say the attacks appear to be the work of terrorists, although no-one has claimed responsibility.

At the same time, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been attacking international shipping in the Red Sea.