Iraq denounces US strike on Popular Mobilization Forces commander in Baghdad

By Anadolu staff

BAGHDAD (AA) - Iraq has condemned a US attack in the capital Baghdad which targeted a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces (Al-Hashd al-Shaabi).

The US attack "undermines all agreements between Iraq and the US," Tahsin al-Khafaji, head of the Iraqi Security Media Cell, said in a statement late Wednesday.

Baghdad holds the Washington and coalition forces responsible for this attack, which “threatens the security of Iraq," added al-Khafaji.

He also stressed that the attack constitutes "an aggressive violation" of Iraq's sovereignty, and its repercussions will be serious for the region."

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Wednesday that it had carried out an airstrike in Iraq, killing a senior leader of the Kataib Hezbollah resistance group who they said was “responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region.”

The official Iraqi News Agency confirmed the killing of Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Baqir al-Saadi when his vehicle was targeted in the Mashatal area east of Baghdad.

The agency said three people were killed in the car targeted by the airstrike, without disclosing the identities of the other two casualties.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of militants that includes the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah, has been carrying out drone and missile attacks on US forces in the region for months amid Israel's ongoing war against the besieged Gaza Strip.

Last month, a suicide drone attack killed three American troops at Tower 22, a remote military installation in Jordan near the Syrian and Iraqi borders. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq subsequently claimed responsibility.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara