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Iraq Condemns US Airstrike On Militia Leader

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BAGHDAD (Worthy News) – Iraq’s prime minister is furious about a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad that killed a high-ranking member of the Popular Mobilization Force (PMF) of Iran-backed militias and has pledged to cease the U.S.-led international coalition’s mission in the country.

A military spokesperson for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani condemned the strike on the group, calling it an “unjustified attack on an Iraqi security entity” that was operating with Sudani’s authorization.

The office of Sudani said his government is forming a committee to prepare the closing down of the U.S.-led operation international coalition’s mission in the country.

“The government is setting a date for the start of the bilateral committee to put arrangements to end the presence of the international coalition forces in Iraq permanently,” Sudani’s office said. That committee would reportedly include representatives of the military coalition.

The PMF, a coalition of militias that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military confirmed, also expressed anger. It confirmed that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al Jawari, better known as Abu Taqwa, had been killed by “brutal American aggression.”

However, the U.S. defended the attack, saying Abu Taqwa, who led the PMF-affiliated Harakat al-Nujaba group, was targeted because he was actively involved in attacks on U.S. personnel.

TARGETED STRIKE

“The strike also killed one other Harakat al Nujaba member,” said Major General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesperson, describing it as a self-defense strike.

“No civilians were harmed. No infrastructure or facilities were struck,” he added.

Iranian-backed militias have carried out more than 100 attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since the start of the Israel-Hamas war more than two months ago, the U.S. military says.

Iraq’s threat to close down the U.S.-led coalition’s mission was expected to future complicate Washington’s efforts to help stabilize the Middle East.

The primary mission of the U.S.-led coalition is to fight the Islamic State, the Sunni extremist militant group that continues to carry out periodic attacks in Iraq despite having lost its hold on the territory it once controlled in 2017.

Since then, the coalition has transitioned from a combat role to an advisory and training mission.