US military conducted strike, killed Iran-backed Iraqi militia official: Pentagon

The US military was behind the strike that killed a prominent Iraqi militia official on Thursday, a US defense official said.

The US official said that Washington targeted the Iran-backed official in Baghdad, who the US believes played a key role in attacks on American forces in Iraq over the last few months.

US forces took “necessary and proportionate action against Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari (a.k.a Abu-Taqwa), who was a Harakat-al-Nujaba leader. Abu-Taqwa was actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The self-defense strike also killed one other Harakat-al-Nujaba member, according to the official. No civilians were harmed and no infrastructure or facilities were struck, the official added.

“The United States is continuing to take action to protect our forces in Iraq and Syria by addressing the threats they face,” a second US official told Al Arabiya English.

US military officials were giving Baghdad time to rein in attacks by Iran-backed militias. Days before Christmas, the top US military general for the Middle East held talks with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss potential responses.

After several weeks of attacks, US President Joe Biden had only ordered responses inside Syria in what analysts and former officials have described as largely symbolic strikes despite some of the attacks on US troops being in Iraq.

American forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted over 100 times since October 17, following the Hamas attack on Israel.

But the US had avoided responding inside of Iraq due to an already frustrated Iraqi public sentiment towards Washington. The US military later targeted Iran-backed militias inside Iraq and killed several fighters on more than one occasion.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to the Iraqi prime minister about Baghdad’s obligation to protect US diplomatic and military personnel in the country. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also held similar talks with the Iraqi premier to drive home a similar message.

Austin said the US had the right to act in self-defense against those who attacked the US and called out Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba for being behind most of the attacks.

The Thursday attack comes after an Israeli strike killed a senior IRGC official in Syria and another Israeli operation killed Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut this week.