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A U.S. drone strike in Baghdad killed a commander of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia blamed for a deadly strike at a U.S. base in Jordan last week, part of a sharpened effort by the Pentagon to deter attacks on its forces.
The commander, of the Iraqi militia group Kataib Hezbollah, was responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on American forces in the region, the Pentagon said.
The U.S. strike in Iraq on Wednesday was part of a more aggressive tack against leaders of the Iran-aligned groups responsible for at least 168 attacks against American forces based in the region. Despite the U.S. campaign, Iranian-backed militias have continued targeting U.S. forces.
Kataib Hezbollah acknowledged the U.S. strike and said “this calls for steadfastness on the path of jihad,” which often refers to armed struggle.
Iraq’s pro-Iran Al-Nujaba movement, part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, called for revenge against America, its partners and interests. “Our response will be decisive, and these crimes will not go unpunished,” it said in a statement, adding: “Let this be our path and our foremost cause from now on and onwards.”
President Biden approved the strike against the commander early last week, U.S. officials said. The Pentagon proceeded when military planners knew they could take a shot and the risk of civilian casualties would be mitigated. Iraqi officials were notified of the strike shortly after it occurred, the Pentagon said.
Following the Iraqi militia’s drone strike on Jan. 28 that killed three Americans at a U.S. outpost in Jordan near the border with Syria, the U.S. began retaliatory airstrikes on Iran’s paramilitary forces and militias that Tehran supports in Syria and Iraq.
The targeted strike on a militia commander within Iraq signals a willingness to expand the U.S. approach, analysts said.
The U.S. began its retaliation for the Jordan drone strike on Friday with strikes in Iraq and Syria, hitting at least 85 targets in an attempt to deter further attacks against American forces in the region.
Before that, late last month, the U.S. struck three facilities in western Iraq used by Kataib Hezbollah, hitting the group’s headquarters, and storage and training locations used for rocket missile and one-way drone attacks, the Pentagon said at the time.
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