An airstrike against the pro-Iran Harakat al-Nujaba, which comprises the Popular Mobilization Forces’ (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) 12th brigade, in Iraq’s capital city of Baghdad killed two, including Mushtaq Talib al-Saeedi - a former commander of al-Nujaba and the deputy commander of the PMF’s Baghdad Belt Operations. Six people were wounded in the strike, according to PMF media.
"I can confirm that on January 4th, approximately 12pm Iraq time, US forces took necessary and proportionate action against Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, aka Abu Taqwa, who is a Harakat al-Nujaba leader. Abu Taqwa was actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder told reporters, adding that another member of the group was also killed in the strike.
"It is important to note that the strike was taken in self-defense, that no civilians were harmed and that no infrastructure or facilities were struck," he elaborated.
The airstrike took place in eastern Baghdad.
Al-Nujaba is among the Iran-backed groups that Washington blames for a spate of drone attacks on American interests in Iraq and Syria since mid-October in response to American support for Israel in its war against Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran and affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has claimed responsibility for most of the recent attacks, numbering at over 100, on US troops in Iraq and Syria.
The Iraqi government blasted the US for the deadly strike.
“The Iraqi Armed Forces hold the international coalition forces responsible for this unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security body … we consider this targeting a dangerous escalation and attack on Iraq,” Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson for Iraq’s prime minister, said in a statement.
The statement described the “blatant attack and violation of the sovereignty and security of Iraq” as “no different from a terrorist act.”
Hours after the Thursday strike against al-Nujaba, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed to have carried out two drone attacks against US troops in Syria.
A Pentagon spokesperson told Rudaw English on Thursday that Washington “is continuing to take action to protect our forces in Iraq and Syria by addressing the threats they face."
The Pentagon underscored the continuous collaboration between Iraqi security forces and the US.
“We do know that the Iraqi Security Forces have continued to assist in identifying in some cases where these Iranian proxies have conducted attacks against US forces and we're very appreciative of that support,” the Pentagon spokesperson told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda in during the Thursday press briefing.
