A commander from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq, was killed in a U.S. strike on Wednesday, confirmed by the U.S. military.
“(U.S.) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on U.S. service members, killing a Kataib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region,” a statement from the military said. It did not name the commander.
The U.S. military affirmed that there were no signs of civilian casualties. According to two anonymous security sources, the commander targeted in the strike was Abu Baqir al-Saadi, who was killed in a drone attack on a vehicle in eastern Baghdad.
One of the sources mentioned that three individuals lost their lives, and the vehicle struck belonged to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state security agency comprising numerous armed groups, several with ties to Iran.
Kataib Hezbollah fighters and commanders are integrated into the PMF. In January, three U.S. troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border, which the Pentagon attributed to Kataib Hezbollah’s involvement.
Consequently, the group declared a suspension of military operations against U.S. troops in the area. Iraq and Syria have experienced almost daily reciprocal attacks between extremist Iran-backed armed groups and U.S. forces stationed in the region since the Gaza conflict erupted in October.
Last weekend, the U.S. conducted strikes on Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria, signaling the start of its retaliation for the deaths of three U.S. soldiers.
In January, a U.S. drone strike targeted a senior militia commander in central Baghdad, a response to drone and rocket attacks on American forces.
On Wednesday, Iraqi special forces heightened their readiness in Baghdad, with additional units stationed within the Green Zone, home to international diplomatic missions including the U.S. embassy, according to a security source.
