A top official within an Iran-backed militia met his end in a US drone strike in Baghdad this week.
The strike targeted the leader of Kataib Hezbollah and two of his guards. All three of them did not survive.
According to the Pentagon, the senior commander was responsible for orchestrating attacks on American forces in the region. The US has linked the militia to a drone attack in Jordan, which resulted in the death of three US troops last month.
Following the attack, Kataib Hezbollah announced the suspension of attacks on American troops to prevent any trouble for the Iraqi government.
The strike on Wednesday took place in Baghdad’s Mashtal neighborhood, causing several loud explosions.
The precise attack targeted a moving vehicle in a busy area, leaving the car in a fiery wreck. One of the victims was identified as Abu Baqir al-Saadi, a senior commander in Kataib Hezbollah.
The timing of the raid is significant, as it comes after the US launched 85 strikes in Syria and Iraq in response to a drone attack on troops.
President Joe Biden described last Friday’s wave of attacks as just the start of the US response. The drone raid in the Iraqi capital marks a major escalation in the US response, having previously targeted only the Iraq-Syria border area.
Militias in the country have called for retaliation against the US following the attack. American forces have faced near-daily rocket and drone strikes since the Israel Gaza war began in early October.
The US has approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in neighboring Syria to combat the Islamic State terror group.
