The United States claimed responsibility this Thursday for the death in Baghdad of the leader of a pro-Iran armed group, involved, according to Washington, in attacks against its troops in Iraq and Syria.
Mushtaq Talib al Saidi, known as Abu Taqua, was the commander of the 12th Brigade of the pro-Iran Al-Nujaba movement, which is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, whose headquarters are based in Baghdad.
“This was a self-defense attack because this particular individual was involved in the planning and execution of attacks against state personnel in Iraq and Syria, which by definition is a threat and implies acting in self-defense,” the Pentagon spokesperson explained. Brigadier General Pat Ryder, in a press conference, highlighted that “no civilians were injured and no infrastructure or facilities were affected.”
A source from the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior told Efe that Abu Taqua’s right-hand man was also killed in the drone attack, as well as another member of the group, but the brigadier general only confirmed the death of a second person.
The Al-Nujaba group is also part of the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has launched attacks against US targets in Iraq and Syria.
Several of the groups that make up the Islamic Resistance in Iraq condemned the attack and demanded that the Iraqi government expel US troops from the country.
“As we have said for some time, we reserve our inherent right to self-defense and will take the necessary measures to protect our personnel,” concluded the Pentagon spokesman, stressing that his country is not seeking to increase tension in the region, but is Nor will he allow his forces to be threatened.
US troops and troops of the international anti-jihadist coalition deployed in Iraq and Syria have been the target of almost daily attacks with drones and rockets since the start of the war, on October 7, between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
In recent weeks, Iraqi armed groups have been the target of bombings on several occasions, some of which have been claimed by the United States, a country targeted by pro-Iran factions for its support for Israel.
The Islamic Resistance claimed responsibility this afternoon for a drone attack against a US base in southern Syria, the first action after the US attack in Baghdad against its leaders.
“The ‘mujahideen’ of the Islamic Resistance attacked, using ‘drones’, the occupation base in the Rukban countryside in Syria and the Resistance confirms its continued destruction of enemy strongholds,” the movement said in a statement.
The attack has not been confirmed by US sources.
Source: TSF
