U.S. Strike Targets Kataib Hezbollah Commander in Baghdad

The U.S. military announced a unilateral strike in Iraq targeting a commander from Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group accused of attacking U.S. troops in the region. Although the military did not disclose the commander’s name, security sources identified him as Abu Baqir al-Saadi, who was reportedly killed in a drone strike on a vehicle in eastern Baghdad.

The strike, aimed at individuals responsible for planning and executing attacks on U.S. forces, resulted in three casualties, according to sources. The vehicle targeted was allegedly associated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state security agency comprising various armed groups, many with ties to Iran, including Kataib Hezbollah.

This incident follows a series of escalations between Iran-backed groups and U.S. forces, with recent attacks prompting retaliatory strikes by the U.S. military. tensions in the region have heightened since January when a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border killed three U.S. troops, attributed to Kataib Hezbollah. In response to escalating violence, both Iraq and Syria have witnessed frequent exchanges of attacks between Iran-backed groups and U.S. forces stationed in the region.