Iraq
People watch as a vehicle that was hit by a drone strike, reportedly killing three people including two leaders of a pro-Iran group, is carried away in Baghdad on February 7, 2024. Photo: Murtaja Lateef/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The leader of the Iran-backed Asaib Ahl al-Haq on Thursday called for the “immediate withdrawal” of US-led coalition forces in Iraq after an American drone strike killed a senior Iran-backed leader in Baghdad, stressing that condemnations no longer suffice.
“It is clear that denunciations and condemnations are no longer sufficient, which necessitates the need for Iraq to submit an official request to the UN Security Council demanding the immediate withdrawal of foreign forces,” Qais al-Khazali, secretary-general of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said on X.
A US drone strike in eastern Baghdad’s Mashtal neighborhood in the late hours of Wednesday killed three, including Abu Baqer al-Saadi, a leading commander of the pro-Iran Kataib Hezbollah militia group.
Washington blamed Saadi for “directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region,” according to a statement from the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
Washington on Friday night launched a major retaliation campaign against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq and Syria, striking more than 85 targets and killing at least 16 Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters and injuring another 36 in Iraq’s western Anbar province, near the Syrian border.
The airstrikes were carried out in retaliation to the recent drone attack took place at a military base in Jordan late last month and killed three American soldiers. US President Joe Biden warned that the response would be carried out in multiple phases.
American troops have come under more than 165 rocket and drone attacks in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan by Iran-aligned militia groups condemning Washington’s support for Israel in its war in the Gaza Strip since mid-October.
“The continued American attacks on Iraqi lives, and the violation of our country’s sovereignty, is evidence of the American contempt and disdain for the Iraqi government and people,” Khazali stressed.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with the IRGC, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.
Baghdad is currently engaged in talks with the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) to wind down the mission and end the presence of foreign troops on Iraqi soil. The talks were instigated by Iraq’s anger over repeated US airstrikes on its territory
Washington’s strikes are undermining efforts taken by the Iraqi government and the commitment to de-escalation by the “honorable resistance factions,” according to Khazali.
In response to Saeedi’s death, Iraq’s Iran-backed Harakat al-Nujaba militia in a statement vowed a “targeted retaliation” against the US and said that the act “will not go unpunished.”
A top Iraqi military spokesperson said Washington’s Wednesday strike “undermines all understandings” and labeled it as a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”
“We hold the American side and coalition forces responsible for the repercussions of these dangerous actions that threaten the security and safety of our country,” Major General Tahseen al-Khafaji, spokesperson for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, said in a statement.
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS, which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared territorially defeated in 2019.
“It is clear that denunciations and condemnations are no longer sufficient, which necessitates the need for Iraq to submit an official request to the UN Security Council demanding the immediate withdrawal of foreign forces,” Qais al-Khazali, secretary-general of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, said on X.
A US drone strike in eastern Baghdad’s Mashtal neighborhood in the late hours of Wednesday killed three, including Abu Baqer al-Saadi, a leading commander of the pro-Iran Kataib Hezbollah militia group.
Washington blamed Saadi for “directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region,” according to a statement from the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
Washington on Friday night launched a major retaliation campaign against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and Iran-aligned militias in Iraq and Syria, striking more than 85 targets and killing at least 16 Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fighters and injuring another 36 in Iraq’s western Anbar province, near the Syrian border.
The airstrikes were carried out in retaliation to the recent drone attack took place at a military base in Jordan late last month and killed three American soldiers. US President Joe Biden warned that the response would be carried out in multiple phases.
American troops have come under more than 165 rocket and drone attacks in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan by Iran-aligned militia groups condemning Washington’s support for Israel in its war in the Gaza Strip since mid-October.
“The continued American attacks on Iraqi lives, and the violation of our country’s sovereignty, is evidence of the American contempt and disdain for the Iraqi government and people,” Khazali stressed.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups affiliated with the IRGC, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.
Baghdad is currently engaged in talks with the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) to wind down the mission and end the presence of foreign troops on Iraqi soil. The talks were instigated by Iraq’s anger over repeated US airstrikes on its territory
Washington’s strikes are undermining efforts taken by the Iraqi government and the commitment to de-escalation by the “honorable resistance factions,” according to Khazali.
In response to Saeedi’s death, Iraq’s Iran-backed Harakat al-Nujaba militia in a statement vowed a “targeted retaliation” against the US and said that the act “will not go unpunished.”
A top Iraqi military spokesperson said Washington’s Wednesday strike “undermines all understandings” and labeled it as a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”
“We hold the American side and coalition forces responsible for the repercussions of these dangerous actions that threaten the security and safety of our country,” Major General Tahseen al-Khafaji, spokesperson for Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, said in a statement.
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS, which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared territorially defeated in 2019.
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