Members of the group Kataeb Hezbollah, one of the factions of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Forces - PMF) paramilitaries, carry the body of their fallen comrade Hassan Hammadi al-Amiri during his funeral in Baghdad on Dec. 26, 2023, after he was killed earlier in a US airstrike. (Credit: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)
The US military carried out a strike in Baghdad against an Iraqi militia leader it blames for attacks against US forces in the country, killing him and another person, a US official told Reuters on Thursday.
The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike hit a vehicle in Baghdad. It targeted a leader of Harakat al Nujaba, the official said, without naming the person.
At least three militia fighters were killed and six others wounded in the strike on the Iran-backed militia headquarters in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, police and security sources told Reuters.
Police sources and eyewitnesses said at least two rockets struck a building used by Iraqi militia group al-Nujaba'a.
A group spokesman said three of the group's fighters were killed, including a local commander in al-Nujaba'a. The spokesman accused the United States of carrying out the attack.
Iraqi police and security sources said they had no further detail on who might have carried out the strike pending a government investigation.
The Iraqi prime minister's office said that the US-led international coalition bears responsibility for an "unjustified" attack on Thursday on an Iraqi security force.
"The attack is a dangerous escalation and a violation of Iraq's sovereignty," the office said.
Last month, the United States carried out retaliatory air strikes in Iraq after a drone attack by Iran-aligned militants that left one US service member in critical condition and wounded two others.
The US military has already come under attack at least 100 times in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones.