Airstrike kills militia leader in Baghdad as regional tension rises
Mike Brest
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Four members of an Iranian-aligned Iraqi militia were killed in an airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
The strike supposedly targeted a leader with the Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, an Iraqi Shi’ite militia group, who was allegedly responsible for the series of attacks against United States forces in Iraq and Syria, according to Fox News.
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The Popular Mobilization Force, which is a coalition of militias that is under the control of the Iraqi military, announced that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, or “Abu Taqwa,” had been killed “as a result of brutal American aggression.”
Iraqi military spokesman Yehia Rasool said in a statement that they hold “the International Coalition Forces responsible for this unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security body operating in accordance with the powers granted to it by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.”
U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria remain in both countries as a part of the continuous effort to ensure the Islamic State does not retake a foothold in either, but they have increasingly come under attack by these Iranian-backed militias since mid-October, which largely coincided with the ignition of tension following Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel and Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza.
“The United States is continuing to take action to protect our forces in Iraq and Syria by addressing the threats they face,” a U.S. official told the Washington Examiner.
These militias have launched more than 100 attacks, largely consisting of rockets and one-way drones fired at U.S. military bases in both countries, which have injured dozens of troops, though none have been killed. The U.S. military has launched a handful of strikes against the militia’s facilities, mainly in Syria, but has largely attempted to avoid escalating any tension in the Middle East due to the various simmering conflicts in the region.
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Thursday’s strike comes amid Israel’s war against Hamas, which has destroyed much of Gaza and killed tens of thousands of people, civilians and combatants. Simultaneously, Israel is on a war footing with Hezbollah, a more sophisticated terror group based in Lebanon, which is Israel’s northern neighbor. The Israelis allegedly killed a top Hamas leader in Beirut, Lebanon, earlier this week, which resulted in threats from Hezbollah’s leader on Wednesday.
Additionally, the Houthis, another group that has Iran’s backing, have launched attacks against roughly two dozen commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which is a major shipping transit, and their attacks have forced shipping companies to reevaluate whether to continue to sail through the waterway due to the threat.