US drone strike in Baghdad kills Hezbollah leader
BAGHDAD (AP) – A US drone strike blew up a car in the Iraqi capital Wednesday night, killing a high-ranking commander of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia who is responsible for “directly planning and participating in attacks” on American troops in the region, the US military said Wednesday.
The precision blast hit a main thoroughfare in the Mashtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, attracting a crowd as emergency teams picked through the wreckage. It came amid roiling tensions in the region, and will likely further anger Iraqi government leaders, who US officials said were not notified in advance of the strike.
Security forces closed off the heavily guarded Green Zone, where a number of diplomatic compounds are located, and there were concerns about social media postings urging protesters to storm the US embassy.
There were conflicting reports on the number of those killed, with US officials saying the initial assessment was one, and saying there were no civilians hurt or killed.
But two officials with Iran-backed militias in Iraq said that three died, including Wissam Muhammad Sabir Al-Saadi, known as Abu Baqir Al-Saadi, the commander in charge of Kataib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria. Kataeb Hezbollah later announced his death “following the bombing of the American occupation forces” in a statement.
Those officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to journalists.
In a statement, US Central Command said “there are no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties at this time.” It added that the US “will not hesitate to hold responsible all those who threaten our forces’ safety.”
The strike is certain to inflame already seething relations between Washington and Baghdad. It comes just days after the US military launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three US troops and injured more than 40 others at a base in Jordan in late January.
Civil defense members gather at the site of a vehicle targeted by a US drone strike in east Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday.