Middle East|Iraq Condemns U.S. After Drone Strike in Baghdad
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/04/world/middleeast/us-drone-strike-baghdad-iraq.html
The attack, acknowledged by the Pentagon, killed the militant leader of an Iran-allied group with ties to the Iraqi government’s security apparatus.
A United States drone strike in Baghdad on Thursday killed a senior figure in an Iran-linked militant group that is part of Iraq’s security apparatus, drawing sharp criticism from the Iraqi government as well as allied groups.
In an angry statement, an Iraqi government spokesman blasted the United States for the attack, calling it a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and security of Iraq” and “no different from a terrorist act.”
The Pentagon acknowledged responsibility for the strike, saying in a statement that U.S. forces “took necessary and proportionate action,” adding that the attack “was taken in self-defense,” and that no civilians were harmed.
A missile fired by the drone struck a vehicle carrying three men near the logistics headquarters for the 12th brigade of the group, Harakat al-Nujaba, killing a brigade commander, Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi, and two others, according to Iraqi security officials. The group, closely linked to Iran, was designated as a global terrorist organization by the State Department in 2019.
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However, Nujaba has remained part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a security organization that is in turn part of the government’s broader security forces.
In recent weeks the U.S. military has responded several times to more than 70 attacks by Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq against U.S. bases and camps in Iraq and Syria. Those U.S. strikes twice targeted another Iraqi militia linked to Iran, Kataib Hezbollah, as well as several others.
However, the United States has generally avoided striking targets inside Baghdad in recent years because of the city’s high population density.
Hamas released a statement condemning the attack on the Nujaba fighters. The Nujaba group has tried to aid Hamas in its fight against Israel, taking responsibility for a drone strike in November that hit a school in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
The killing of the three operatives prompted calls from Iraqi political parties with links to Iran for the immediate withdrawal of all United States forces from Iraq. There are about 2,500 U.S. forces in Iraq, primarily in bases far from population centers.
Falih Hassan contributed reporting from Baghdad and Eric Schmitt from Washington.
Alissa J. Rubin covers climate change and conflict in the Middle East. She previously reported for more than a decade from Baghdad and Kabul, Afghanistan, and was the Paris bureau chief. More about Alissa J. Rubin
