U.S. Kills Iran-Backed Militia Leader With Airstrike in Iraq

A U.S. airstrike in central Baghdad killed the commander of an Iran-backed militia Thursday, potentially escalating tensions in the region amid rising fears of Israel’s war against Hamas spiraling into a wider international conflict.

An anonymous U.S. official told Reuters that the strike in Iraq targeted a leader of Harakat al Nujaba, which the American military blames for attacks on U.S. forces inside the country. The official said that a vehicle had been hit and the commander and one other person were killed.

The Popular Mobilization Force (PMF), a coalition of militias nominally controlled by the Iraqi military, released a statement saying its deputy head of operations in Baghdad was dead, according to the Associated Press. Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, or “Abu Taqwa,” was killed “as a result of brutal American aggression,” the statement read.

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