America entered the war in the Middle East: Baghdad was struck

Americans kill the leader of an Iraqi Shiite militia

The war in the Middle East is spreading further beyond the Gaza Strip: the US military struck in Baghdad an Iraqi militia leader whom it blames for attacks on US forces in this Arab country. The militia leader who was targeted was killed and another person was also killed, a US official told Reuters on Thursday.

Photo: en.wikipedia.org

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the car was struck in Baghdad. The target was the leader of the Harakat al-Nujaba group, the official said, without naming a specific person.

Let us note that we are talking about the Iraqi Shiite militia, formed in 2013 and fighting the “Islamic State” (ISIS is a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) and other groups. In March 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo designated Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba (and all its aliases and components) and its leader Akram al-Kaabi as a special list of global terrorists.

Police sources and eyewitnesses reported that a drone fired at least two missiles at a building in eastern Baghdad used by an Iraqi militia group.

The United States struck a member of a pro-Iranian proxy group who “has American blood on his hands,” an American told CNN official.

A second US defense official said: “The United States continues to take action to protect our forces in Iraq and Syria by addressing the threats they face.”

The strike took place in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, a Pentagon spokesman said. on a vehicle believed to be carrying the target.

“We will strike back and make the Americans regret carrying out this aggression,” Reuters reported, citing a statement by a local Iraqi militia commander.

An airstrike on an Iranian-backed militia's logistics headquarters in central Baghdad killed a senior militia commander on Thursday, militant officials said, as tensions continue to rise in the region.

Nominally controlled by the Iraqi military, the militia coalition «Force» Popular Mobilization announced in a statement that its deputy chief of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, or “Abu Taqwa,” was killed “as a result of brutal American aggression.”

The Iraqi Prime Minister's Office said the US-led international coalition was responsible for the «unjustifiable» attack on Iraqi security forces. Reuters reports that the office of the head of the Iraqi government said: “The attack is a dangerous escalation and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”

The US has 900 troops deployed to Syria and 2,500 in Iraq, which it says are there ostensibly to prevent the resurgence of Islamic State militants (a terrorist organization banned in Russia).

In recent days, The Guardian recalls, the United States has also attacked Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis after Yemeni forces committed attacks on ships near the Red Sea that they claimed were linked to Israel.

Tensions are rising throughout the region, with violence in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, northern Israel, and Lebanon in recent days , Syria, Iran, the Red Sea and Iraq.