Drone strike kills two Kataib Hezbollah leaders in Baghdad: security source
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – Abu Baqir al-Saadi and Haj Arkan Aliawi, leaders of Kataib Hezbollah, were killed in the drone strike in Baghdad, preliminary reports indicate, a security source confirmed to Kurdistan24.
A suspected drone attack hit a vehicle in Baghdad’s Rusafa, according to preliminary reports.
— Kurdistan 24 English (@K24English) February 7, 2024
📹Submitted to Kurdistan24 pic.twitter.com/GhWBNLaoPS
Kataib Hezbollah also confirmed reports that two of its military leaders were killed in the drone strikes.
The drone airstrike targeted a vehicle in Mashtal neighborhood, eastern Baghdad.
Security forces arrived at the scene and are investigating the incident.
The vehicle was reportedly targeted by a MQ-9 Reaper drone, the same type that was used to kill Qasim Soleimani, long-time head of the Quds Force, the paramilitary arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the head of the Iranian-backed Shiite militia, Kata’ib Hezbollah.
USCENTCOM Conducts Strike Killing Kata’ib Hezbollah Senior Leader
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 7, 2024
At 9:30 p.m. (Baghdad Time) February 7, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on U.S. service members, killing a Kata’ib Hezbollah commander… pic.twitter.com/Zhkjimx5UG
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) later confirmed they killed "a Kata’ib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region."
Earlier Al Jazeera reported that an U.S. official said that the United States targeted a "high-value individual target" in Baghdad.
Security forces reportedly closed all roads to the Green Zone amidsts calls for protests by Iranian-backed militia groups.
Earlier on Feb. 3, the U.S. military struck more than 85 targets in both Iraq and Syria, killing at least 13 members of Iran-backed armed groups in Syria, and 16 in Iraq.
The strikes were a retaliation for the death of three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers at a remote US base in Jordan on Jan. 28 by a drone attack carried out by an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia group.
Updated: 12:40 AM Erbil time.