Commander of Iran-backed militia blamed for killing 3 US troops killed in Baghdad drone strike

A US drone strike has killed an Iran-backed militia commander in Baghdad.

The strike is understood to have killed a key member of the Kataib Hezbollah militia on Wednesday night.

Reuters

People inspect a vehicle, after what security sources said was a deadly drone strike[/caption]

AFP

Emergency services gather around a vehicle hit by a drone strike in Baghdad[/caption]

A statement from the US Central Command confirmed it had launched a “unilateral strike”.

It said: “At 9.30pm February 7, US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted a unilateral strike in Iraq in response to the attacks on US service members, killing a Kata’ib Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region.

“There are no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties at this time.

“The United States will continue to take necessary action to protect our people.

“We will not hesitate to hold responsible all those who threaten our forces’ safety.”

It comes days after three American troops died in a drone strike in Jordan.

US President Joe Biden had vowed to respond following the attack at a small US outpost in northeast Jordan near the border with Syria.

Sgt William Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, were killed in the unprecedented attack on the Tower 22 base in Jordan, which injured another 34.

The strike marked the first US deaths by enemy fire since the start of the Israel-Hamas war – a major escalation in the crisis taking hold across the region.

The US Department of Defense said that the drone attack bore the signs of an extremist group with access to Iranian weaponry.