Air strike kills Qassim Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, and senior militia official at Baghdad airport The Telegraph Iranian Major-General Qasem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed early on Friday in an air strike on their convoy at Baghdad airport. "The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qasem Soleimani," Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces umbrella grouping of Iran-backed militias, told Reuters. State television reported Soleimani's death in a breaking news alert, citing sources from Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi military force, which is dominated by Shiite-majority factions close to Tehran. US officials said strikes had been carried out against two targets linked to Iran in Baghdad. Three rockets hit Baghdad International Airport, killing five members of Iraqi paramilitary groups and two "guests", Iraqi paramilitary groups said on Friday. The rockets landed near the air cargo terminal, burning two vehicles. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces Credit: Reuters Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces Credit: Reuters An official with the group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iran-backed paramilitary force, said the dead included its airport protocol officer, identifying him as Mohammed Reda. The security official said the bodies of those killed in the airport attack Friday were burned and difficult to identify. The official added that Reda may have been at the airport to pick up a group of “high-level” visitors who had arrived from a neighboring country. He declined to provide more information. The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year’s Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the US Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted President Donald Trump to order about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East. The breach at the embassy followed U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The US military said the strikes were in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia. US officials have suggested they were prepared to engage in further retaliatory attacks in Iraq.
Air strike kills Qassim Soleimani, head of Iran's elite Quds Force, and senior militia official at Baghdad airport The Telegraph Iranian Major-General Qasem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed early on Friday in an air strike on their convoy at Baghdad airport.
"The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qasem Soleimani," Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces umbrella grouping of Iran-backed militias, told Reuters.
State television reported Soleimani's death in a breaking news alert, citing sources from Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi military force, which is dominated by Shiite-majority factions close to Tehran. US officials said strikes had been carried out against two targets linked to Iran in Baghdad. Three rockets hit Baghdad International Airport, killing five members of Iraqi paramilitary groups and two "guests", Iraqi paramilitary groups said on Friday. The rockets landed near the air cargo terminal, burning two vehicles.
Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces Credit:
Reuters: Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, a commander in the Popular Mobilization Forces Credit:
Reuters An official with the group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, an Iran-backed paramilitary force, said the dead included its airport protocol officer, identifying him as Mohammed Reda. The security official said the bodies of those killed in the airport attack Friday were burned and difficult to identify.
The official added that Reda may have been at the airport to pick up a group of “high-level” visitors who had arrived from a neighboring country. He declined to provide more information.
The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year’s Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the US Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted President Donald Trump to order about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East.
The breach at the embassy followed U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The US military said the strikes were in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia. US officials have suggested they were prepared to engage in further retaliatory attacks in Iraq.