US strike in Iraq’s Baghdad kills senior Kataib Hezbollah members: Official

The US military carried out a drone attack on a vehicle in Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Wednesday night, killing Iran-backed militia members, a US official said.

Abu Baqir al-Saadi and Arkan Alyawi were killed in the strike, according to Iraqi media. Al-Saadi was responsible for Kataib Hezbollah’s drone program, diplomatic sources told Al Arabiya English, reportedly making him one of highest-ranking Iraqis to be killed since Abu Mehdi al-Muhandis in 2020. Then-US President Donald Trump ordered a strike near the Baghdad airport, which killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani and the Iraqi militia leader.

Wednesday’s attack by the US was the second in what Washington has said would be a multi-tiered response to an Iran-backed drone strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan last month.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) released a statement confirming a unilateral strike in Iraq, killing a Kataib Hezbollah commander “responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region.” No indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties were reported, CENTCOM said.

“The United States will continue to take necessary action to protect our people. We will not hesitate to hold responsible all those who threaten our forces’ safety,” CENTCOM added.

Although Baghdad condemned the first round of retaliatory attacks last week, the US has said it has the inherent right to defend itself. American troops are in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government as part of the Defeat-ISIS coalition.

Last month, the US conducted a similar strike that killed another prominent Iraqi militia official in Baghdad over what the US said was his key role in attacks on American forces in Iraq over the last few months. That came after over 100 Iran-backed attacks targeted US troops in Iraq and Syria.