At least four militia fighters were killed, and six others wounded, in a drone strike on an Iran-backed militia headquarters in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, police and security sources said.
A “US strike” killed a military commander of the Hashed al-Shaabi, an ex-paramilitary force said.
“A drone targeted the logistical support headquarters of Hashed al-Shaabi,” mainly pro-Iranian former paramilitary units integrated into the Iraqi armed forces, said the security official.
A Hashed source, also asking not to be named, claimed the United States was behind the attack.
Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the Hashed’s factions, said in a statement that “the deputy commander of operations for Baghdad, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi” had been “martyred in a US strike”.
US retaliates in Iraq with strikes on 3 sites used by Iran-backed militias
US retaliates in Iraq with strikes on 3 sites used by Iran-backed militias
It came amid heightened regional tensions since war broke out between US ally Israel and Iran-backed Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the Palestinian group’s deadly October 7 attack.
There was no immediate comment from US officials, whose forces in Iraq and neighbouring Syria have faced a surge in attacks since the start of the Israel-Gaza war.
Videos shared on a Telegram channel linked to the Hashed showed columns of smoke rising above the area of the strike on Baghdad’s Palestine street, normally a bustling commercial road.
Washington has counted more than 100 attacks against US targets in Syria and Iraq since mid-October.
Many have been claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-linked armed groups that oppose US support for Israel in the Gaza war.
The United States has around 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of a multinational coalition fighting Islamic State group.
The US military has responded to recent attacks by launching air strikes targeting sites used by Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq and Syria, including Hashed sites.
Last month, the United States carried out retaliatory air strikes in Iraq after a drone attack by Iran-aligned militants that left one US service member in critical condition and wounded two others.
Killing of Hamas deputy leader in Beirut raises risk of war spreading
Killing of Hamas deputy leader in Beirut raises risk of war spreading
The US military has already come under attack at least 100 times in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Gaza war began in October, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones.
The United States has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq on a mission it says aims to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of both countries before being defeated.
The strike also comes two days after a suspected Israeli drone strike in the suburbs of Beirut killed Hamas deputy leader Saleh Arouri.
Asked whether Israel had involvement in Thursday’s strike in Baghdad, an Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment.
Reporting by Reuters, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse