Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah commander Abu Baqir al-Saadi killed in Baghdad in US strike

A commander of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group, has been killed by the American forces in a US strike in Iraq on Wednesday, the US Central Command said. The Pentagon said the Kataib Hezbollah commander, killed in a “unilateral” air strike, was responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region. It further said the American forces conducted the strike in Iraq in response to attacks on the US service members. “At 9:30 pm (Baghdad Time), 7 February, US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on US service members, killing a Kataib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region,” the US Central Command said in a post on X. “There are no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties at this time,” it added.

USCENTCOM Conducts Strike Killing Kata’ib Hezbollah Senior Leader

At 9:30 p.m. (Baghdad Time) February 7, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on U.S. service members, killing a Kata’ib Hezbollah commander… pic.twitter.com/Zhkjimx5UG

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 7, 2024

The US military also said it will continue to take necessary action to protect its people. “We will not hesitate to hold responsible all those who threaten our forces’ safety,” Centcom said. Who was Kataib Hezbollah commander killed by the US? Though the post by the US military did not name the Kataib Hezbollah senior leader killed by them in the airstrike, a report by Reuters cited two security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, saying the commander was Abu Baqir al-Saadi. They further said Abu Baqir al-Saadi was killed in a drone strike on a vehicle in eastern Baghdad. The strike occurred on a busy street in the Mashtal area of eastern Baghdad. After the incident, a large number of people assembled while emergency teams examined the debris. The report cited one of the sources saying three people were killed and the vehicle targeted was used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state security agency composed of dozens of armed groups, many of them close to Iran. Kataib Hezbollah fighters and commanders are part of the PMF. Who is Abu Baqir al-Saadi? A report by Al Jazeera identified Abu Baqir al-Saadi as the head of the aerial division in Kataib Hezbollah, In January, three US troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border that the Pentagon said bore the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah. The group then announced it was suspending military operations against US troops in the region. Since the Israel-Hamas war began on 7 October last year, Iraq and Syria have been witnessing near daily tit-for-tat attacks between hardline Iran-backed armed groups and US forces deployed in the region. Last week, the US struck Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria in what it said was just the beginning of its response to the killing of the three American soldiers. In January, a US drone strike killed a senior militia commander in central Baghdad, an attack Washington said came in response to drone and rocket attacks on its forces. With inputs from Reuters