The United States admits to being behind a strike that killed the leader of a pro-Iranian faction in Iraq

The leader of a pro-Iranian armed group, involved according to Washington in attacks against its troops, was killed Thursday January 4 in Iraq by an American strike, an American defense official confirmed the same day. “This strike was an act of self-defense. No civilians were injured. No infrastructure or installations were affected”he said in a press release.

The strike targeted the leader of one of the factions of the pro-Iranian armed group Hachd al-Chaabi. The latter was “actively involved in organizing and carrying out attacks against American troops”, added the official, confirming the death of another member of the group. Both were killed by a drone strike on a building of their organization in Baghdad.

The bombing target

American troops and those of the international anti-jihadist coalition deployed in Iraq and Syria have been targeted almost daily by drone and rocket attacks since the start of the war on October 7 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza. In recent weeks, the armed groups of the Iraqi Hachd al-Shaabi have been the target of bombings on several occasions, some of which have been claimed by the United States, a country hated by pro-Iranian factions for their support for Israel.