A US drone strike in Baghdad has killed three members of the highly effective Kataib Hezbollah militia, together with a high-ranking commander, in keeping with US officers.
The drone strike hit a automobile within the Iraqi capital – and was in response to a drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan in direction of the tip of January.
Sky News’s Alex Crawford arrived on the scene shortly after the blast and mentioned there was “great tension” and a “great deal of anger towards America”.
Crowds gathered as emergency response groups picked by the wreckage.
The US has blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a broad coalition of Iran-backed militias, for the assault in Jordan on its forces, and officers have mentioned they believe Kataib Hezbollah, specifically, of main it.
The strike on Wednesday evening hit a foremost street within the Mashtal neighbourhood in jap Baghdad.
A US official mentioned {that a} senior Kataib Hezbollah commander was focused within the strike.
Two officers with Iran-backed militias in Iraq mentioned that one of many three killed was Wissam Mohammed “Abu Bakr” al Saadi, the commander answerable for Kataib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria.
The officers spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t authorised to talk to journalists.
Security forces closed off the closely guarded Green Zone, the place plenty of diplomatic compounds are situated, amid requires protesters to storm the US embassy.
Kataib Hezbollah earlier mentioned in a press release that it was suspending assaults on American troops to keep away from “embarrassing the Iraqi government” after the strike in Jordan, however others have vowed to proceed combating.
Source: information.sky.com”