Reuters reports that the U.S. conducted a drone attack in Baghdad on Wednesday night that killed 3 members of Kataib Hezbollah, including a senior commander who was linked to a drone that killed 3 U.S. soldiers in Jordan last month.
The attack was deemed a “high-value individual target.” The strike took place on a major thoroughfare located in the Mashtal district in eastern Baghdad.
Baghdad, Iraq, 7 February 2024: People inspect the vehicle that was targeted by an airstrike.
According to Reuters, one of the victims is Wissam Mohammad “Abu Bakr”, al-Saadi. He was the commander of Kataib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria.
The attack came just days after the U.S. Military launched an air strike on dozens of sites in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon controlled by Iranian-backed groups in retaliation to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers on Jan. 28,
U.S. officials blamed the Islamic Resistance of Iraq (a coalition of Iran-backed militias) for the attack on Jordan and have stated that they suspect Kataib Hezbollah to be the leader.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq regularly claims that it has attacked bases in Iraq and Syria housing U.S. soldiers in retaliation for the U.S. backing Israel in its ongoing campaign against Hamas in Gaza.
Kataib Hezbollah said in a press release that it would suspend attacks against American troops to “avoid embarrassing the Iraqi government”, but other groups have pledged to continue the fight.
