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Iran-Backed Militia Commander Killed in U.S. Drone Strike in Baghdad

The senior militant led Kataib Hezbollah, a group linked to the deaths of three American service members killed in Jordan last month.

A U.S. drone strike killed a senior leader of an Iran-backed militant group responsible for a spate of recent attacks on American troops in the Middle East, including a Jan. 28 strike that led to the deaths of three service members in Jordan last month, according to multiple reports. Three members of the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia were killed in Wednesday’s strike on eastern Baghdad, two militia officials told the Associated Press. One of the dead was identified by U.S. Central Command as a senior commander responsible for “directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region.” The AP and other outlets named the commander as Abu Baqir al-Saadi. The BBC reported that the two others killed had been guards, and that all three had been in a vehicle traversing a busy street when the precise strike hit. By the time a BBC team reached the scene, the car had been reduced to a charred shell and was surrounded by protesters chanting “America is the biggest devil,” according to the network.