BAGHDAD, Feb 9 (NNN-NINA) – The Iraqi government said yesterday that, the U.S. drone strike in eastern Baghdad Wednesday evening, pushed the Iraqi government more than ever to end the mission of the U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
The drone bombarded a sport utility vehicle of paramilitary Hashd Shaabi Forces, in the al-Mashtal neighbourhood, killing at least three people, including Abu Baqir al-Saadi, a commander of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq, that has links to Hashd Shaabi Forces.
Yahya Rasoul, the military spokesman of the Iraqi prime minister, said in a statement that, the U.S. forces once again committed a reckless assassination, in the middle of a residential neighbourhood in Baghdad.
“This path pushes the Iraqi government, more than ever before, to end the mission of the international coalition, which has become a factor of instability for Iraq,” Rasoul said.
The U.S. Central Command said, in a post on the social media platform X yesterday that, the killed commander is “responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region.”
Meanwhile, Spokesman of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, Tahsin al-Khafaji, said in his statement that, the U.S. drone attack “undermines all agreements between Iraq and the U.S.”
“We hold the American side and the coalition forces responsible for the repercussions of these dangerous actions, that threaten the security and safety of the country, and clearly undermine all ongoing talks that take place between Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition,” al-Khafaji said.
Iraq and the United States began the first round of dialogue on Jan 27, to discuss ending the U.S.-led coalition’s mission in Iraq. However, later in the day, three U.S. soldiers were killed in an attack on a U.S. base near Jordan’s border with Syria, which the United States said was carried out by an Iranian-backed armed group named Islamic Resistance in Iraq.– NNN-NINA
