US drone strike in Baghdad kills Iran-backed militia chief

A US drone strike in Baghdad killed a commander of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia blamed for a deadly strike at an American base in Jordan last week, part of a sharpened effort by the Pentagon to deter attacks on its forces.

The commander, of the Iraqi militia group Kataib Hezbollah, was responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on American forces in the region, the Pentagon said.

The US military did not name the commander but security sources identified him as Wissam Mohammed “Abu Bakr” al-Saadi. Two others were also killed in the strike in the eastern part of the city.

The US strike in Iraq on Wednesday was part of a more aggressive tack against leaders of the Iran-aligned groups responsible for at least 168 attacks against American forces based in the ­region. Despite the US campaign, Iranian-backed militias have continued targeting US forces.

Kataib Hezbollah acknowledged the US strike and said “this calls for steadfastness on the path of jihad,” which often refers to armed struggle. Iraq’s pro-Iran Al-Nujaba movement, part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, called for revenge against America, its partners and interests. “Our response will be decisive, and these crimes will not go unpunished,” it said in a statement, adding: “Let this be our path and our foremost cause from now on and onwards.”

President Joe Biden approved the strike against the commander early last week. The Pentagon proceeded when military planners knew they could take a shot and the risk of civilian casualties would be mitigated.

Iraqi officials were notified of the strike shortly after it occurred, the Pentagon said.

Following the Iraqi militia’s drone strike on January 28 that killed three Americans at a US outpost in Jordan near the border with Syria, the US began retaliatory airstrikes on Iran’s paramilitary forces and militias that Tehran supports in Syria and Iraq.

The targeted strike on a militia commander within Iraq signals a willingness to expand the US approach, analysts said.

“In general, US strikes have targeted capabilities to make it harder for these groups to target American forces. Now, the US is going after the brains of the operations,” said Andrew Tabler, a former Middle East director at the White House’s National Security Council and now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

“This keeps these groups from planning future attacks and may be seen as payback. But the risk is when you are killing leaders, you risk retaliation and more attacks on US forces,” Mr Tabler said.

The strike occurred as Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his fifth visit to the Middle East since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. The US is seeking a sustained pause in fighting and the release of 130 hostages in Gaza, a crucial step for advancing its more ambitious objectives.

Mr Blinken was in Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday.

The US began its retaliation for the Jordan drone strike on Friday with strikes in Iraq and Syria, hitting at least 85 targets in an attempt to deter further attacks against American forces in the ­region. Before that, in late January, the US struck three facilities in western Iraq used by Kataib Hezbollah, hitting the group’s headquarters, and storage and training locations used for rocket missile and drone attacks, the Pentagon said at the time.

US Central Command conducted a strike in Baghdad early last month in the first known targeted killing of an Iranian-backed militia leader by the Biden administration, marking a more aggressive effort to hold accountable militant leaders targeting American forces in the region.

The Wall Street Journal