Three people were killed Wednesday in a drone strike targeting a vehicle in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
In a statement, the United States Middle East Military Command, Centcomwrote having “carried out a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to attacks on U.S. service members, killing a Kataeb Hezbollah commander responsible for planning and directly participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region”.
For his part, a security official confirmed that“a drone fired three rockets at a 4 x 4 car” in the Machtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, killing two leaders of the Hezbollah Brigades. This pro-Iran Iraqi armed group has participated in dozens of attacks in recent months against American troops and those of the international anti-jihadist coalition.
American retaliation after the death of three soldiers
Nearly a week ago, the United States carried out strikes in Syria and Iraq against elite Iranian forces and pro-Iran armed groups, in retaliation for the January 28 drone attack that killed three American soldiers stationed at an American base in the Jordanian desert on the Syrian border. For weeks, Iraq has not been able to extricate itself from regional tensions, despite its intense diplomatic efforts, in particular with its American and Iranian partners.
Since mid-October, more than 165 attacks have targeted American soldiers and their partners in the international anti-jihadist coalition in Iraq and Syria. Most were claimed by a nebula of pro-Iranian armed groups called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Faced with the threat of an American response after the attack in Jordan, the Hezbollah Brigades announced in late January ” suspension “ of their attacks against American forces, while calling on their fighters to “practice passive defense in the event of hostile American action against them”.
Classified as a “terrorist” group by Washington and targeted by sanctions, the Hezbollah Brigades (Kataeb Hezbollah in Arabic) have already been targeted in recent weeks by American strikes in Iraq. Officials in Washington assured that the drone attack in Jordan was “the imprint of Kataeb Hezbollah”.
Speaking to ambassadors stationed in Tehran as the 45 approachese anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, Iranian President Ebrahim Raïssi declared on Wednesday that there was no “justification” to the maintenance of American troops in the Middle East, where they represent “a security threat”.