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MapU.S. Drone Strike Kills Kataib Hezbollah Commander Abu Baqir Al-Saadi In Baghdad
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A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed Abu Baqir al-Saadi, Kataib Hezbollah commander. The commander directed attacks on American forces; strike targeted a vehicle in Mashtal.
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7 outlets told this the same way.
Drone strike in Baghdad
A U.S. drone strike killed a senior commander of Kataib Hezbollah in Baghdad on Wednesday night, with US Central Command saying the attack at 21:30 local time killed the "commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region". The strike hit a vehicle in the Mashtal neighbourhood in eastern Baghdad, and the Pentagon said the commander was responsible for directing attacks on American forces in the region. A U.S. drone strike that killed an Iraqi militia commander in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday took weeks to plan as part of a calculated retaliation authorized by President Joe Biden after a drone attack that killed three American soldiers at a base in Jordan late last month.
US Central Command said the vehicle was targeted and that "there are no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties at this time," while crowds gathered at the scene and Iraqi police and Swat teams were present. Abu Baqir al-Saadi was identified as one of the victims, and the car was reduced to a fiery wreck after several loud explosions in a busy street.
Claims, protests, and response
Crowds of protesters gathered chanting "America is the biggest devil," and a man shouted, "You are foreigners," adding "and foreigners are to blame for this" as the BBC team tried to get close to the burnt-out vehicle. AP reported that U.S. officials were not notified in advance of the strike, and AP said security forces closed off the Green Zone where diplomatic compounds are located. AP also reported conflicting reports on the number of those killed, with U.S. officials saying the initial assessment was one and saying there were no civilians hurt or killed, while two officials with Iran-backed militias in Iraq said that three died.
AP said Kataeb Hezbollah later announced his death "following the bombing of the American occupation forces" in a statement, and AP described the commander as known as Abu Baqir Al-Saadi. CNN reported that a drone targeted a vehicle in Baghdad and said the two people inside were not identified because the bodies were completely charred from a fire that erupted from the strike, while CNN also cited police saying there was at least one other person inside the vehicle.
Retaliation cycle and stakes
The BBC said the raid came days after the U.S. launched 85 strikes in the Iraq-Syria border area in retaliation for the fatal 28 January drone attack on American troops at a base in Jordan, and President Joe Biden described the wave of attacks as just the beginning of the US response. AP said the strike came just days after the U.S. military launched an air assault on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by Iran-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three U.S. troops and injured more than 40 others at a base in Jordan in late January. The New York Times reported that the Pentagon said the strike followed up on President Biden’s promise that the response to a slew of attacks by Shiite militias would continue, and it described the Pentagon’s framing of the commander as a leader of Kata’ib Hezbollah.
A U.S. military has struggled to intimidate Iran-backed groups without escalating to a direct conflict with Iran amid tensions over Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and the strike was carried out "as soon as the opportunity presented itself," according to a U.S. official. Kataib Hezbollah said it was suspending attacks on American troops to prevent "embarrassment" to the Iraqi government, while militias in Iraq called for retaliation after the Wednesday attack and Harakat al Nujaba promised a "targeted retaliation" that "these crimes will not go unpunished," according to AFP.