A top leader of a group supported by Iran was killed by a US drone attack in Baghdad.
A high-ranking member of Kataib Hezbollah and two of his bodyguards were attacked while driving in the eastern part of Baghdad, Iraq. All of them passed away.
The Pentagon said the leader was in charge of planning attacks on US forces in the area.
The US believes that the militia was involved in a drone attack in Jordan that killed three US troops last month.
After the attack, Kataib Hezbollah said it was stopping attacks on American troops to avoid causing trouble for the Iraqi government.
On Wednesday night, there was a drone attack in the Mashtal neighborhood of Baghdad. It caused many loud explosions.
A car was hit directly on a busy street and it caught on fire.
One of the people hurt has been named as Abu Baqir al-Saadi, a leader in Kataib Hezbollah.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said that at 9:30 pm local time (6:30 pm GMT), they killed the person who planned and took part in attacking US forces in the region.
“At this time, the Centcom statement says there is no evidence of harm to people or damage to buildings. ”
When the media team arrived, they saw a lot of people protesting and shouting, “America is the worst. ”
There were a lot of police and Swat teams from Iraq’s interior ministry.
The BBC team wanted to get close to the burned car, but the people watching told them to go away because they didn’t want journalists there.
“You are not from here,” a man yelled, adding “and people like you are causing this problem”.
The attack happened a few days after the US did 85 strikes in Iraq-Syria border area. This was in response to a drone attack on American soldiers in Jordan on 28th January which resulted in deaths.
President Joe Biden said the attacks last Friday are just the start of how the US will react.
The attack by the drone in the capital of Iraq will be seen as a big increase in violence.
But it was bound to happen that the American plan would focus on attacking not just the buildings and facilities used by the groups, but also their top bosses.
Soon after the attack on Wednesday, groups in the country wanted to get back at the US.
Harakat al Nujaba, a group accused of attacking American soldiers, said they will fight back. They also warned that they will punish those responsible for the attacks.
On January 4th, the US attacked in Baghdad and killed an important leader of Harakat al Nujaba.
American soldiers have been attacked more than 165 times with rockets and drones since the war between Israel and Gaza started on October 7th.
According to the Pentagon, there are about 2,500 soldiers in Iraq and 900 in Syria from the US. They are there to fight against the Islamic State terror group.
The US military has started to attack the Houthi group in Yemen because they attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea.
Tag: Baghdad
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US drone strike in Baghdad kills militia leader backed by Iran
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A gas tanker explosion in Baghdad kills nine people and injures many more
Security forces have announced that at least nine people were killed and 13 were injured when a gas tanker exploded in the Iraqi capital.
A gas tanker exploded in Baghdad, Iraq’s capital, killing at least nine people and injuring several others, according to security forces.
On Saturday night, an explosion was heard across much of Baghdad near a football field in the city’s east, sending shrapnel into residential buildings and into the pitch.
“Nine civilians were killed and 13 injured” when the tanker exploded, the commander of security forces in Baghdad, Ahmad Salim, said in a statement.
“The explosion is an accident and not an act of terrorism,” he added.
Most of the victims were amateurs playing football in their neighbourhood stadium, the Reuters news agency reported.
Medical sources gave a higher casualty toll to the AFP news agency, with one saying 12 people had been killed.
An AFP correspondent said the windows of nearby buildings were blown out and vehicles in the area were damaged.
“We were at home and felt a very strong blast and a smell of gas,” resident Mohammed Aziz, who lives just 100 metres (330 feet) from the blast site, told AFP.
“It felt like we were suffocating,” he added. “Our doors and windows were blown out.”
Iraq’s recently-elected president, Abdul Latif Rashid, promised there would be an investigation to identify those responsible for the accident.
Safety standards in the transport and construction sector are frequently flouted in Iraq, and accidents are a common occurrence.
In April 2021, more than 80 people died in a hospital fire in Baghdad, after badly stored oxygen bottles exploded.
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Iraq: Muqtada al-Sadr supporters storm parliament again
Supporters of powerful Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have stormed parliament for the second time in a week.
The protesters again breached the high-security Green Zone in Baghdad, as they oppose the nomination of a pro-Iran rival candidate for prime minister.
Over 120 people were injured in the latest unrest. Mr Sadr’s block won the most seats last October, but it is not in power due to a political deadlock.
The most influential coalition in parliament has condemned the protest.
The Shia-led Co-ordination Framework has called on Iraqis to stage “peaceful” demonstrations, adding: “The state, its constitutional bodies and civil peace are a red line.”
The Iraqi health ministry said about 100 of those injured on Saturday were civilians and 25 were security personnel. Six are in a serious condition.
The protesters have vowed to occupy parliament until further notice, AFP news agency reports.
They initially massed at the end of a bridge leading to the closely guarded Green Zone – which is home to a number of the capital city’s most important buildings, including embassies.
But dozens of them tore down concrete barriers protecting the area and ran inside parliament where they waved Iraqi flags and pictures of Mr Sadr.
Iraq’s current prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, instructed the security forces to “protect the demonstrators”.
He called on protesters to “maintain their peaceful move, avoid escalation and abide by the directives of the security forces whose goal is to protect them, and to protect official institutions”.
Saturday’s protest follows one staged on Wednesday, when hundreds of people broke into parliament.
The unrest come after nine months of stalemate, during which disputes between the country’s different political factions have prevented the creation of a new government.
Mr Sadr, a Shia cleric who wants to end US and Iranian influence over Iraq’s internal affairs, claimed victory for his nationalist Saeroun movement following October’s election.
But it has proved impossible since then to build a new governing coalition, as Mr Sadr has refused to work with rivals.
He and his supporters have opposed the candidacy of Mohammed al-Sudani – who is backed by the Co-ordination Framework – for prime minister, as they believe him to be too close to Iran.
Source: BBC