Click to see full-size image. Via X.
The United States has assassinated a senior commander of Iranian-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah right in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The commander, Wisam Mohammed Saber al-Saedi, and two of his guards were in an SUV in the al-Mashtal, a predominantly Shia neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, when it was targeted by a U.S. combat drone late on February 7. All three of them died.
In a statement, the U.S. Central Command said that the strike targeted a commander of Kata’ib Hezbollah “responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region,” without naming him.
“There are no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties at this time,” the statement continued. “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.”
Kata’ib Hezbollah released a statement mourning al-Saedi, also known as “Abu Baqir Diyala,” saying al-Saedi’s death “calls us to remain steadfast in the jihadist approach.”
Wisam Mohammed Saber al-Saedi. Via X.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command said in a statement on X that it sees the strike as a “new aggression by the United States.” Spokesperson Tahseen Al Khafaji added that the move acted to “undermine all understandings” between Iraq and the U.S.
A U.S. official told ABC News that the airstrike was part of the retaliatory actions President Joe Biden authorized last week following the January 28 drone attack on Tower 22 base in Jordan that killed three American service members and wounded more than 40 others.
The U.S. conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria last week targeting seven locations used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and affiliated forces in retaliation for the deadly drone attack in Jordan. U.S. officials said afterward that additional action would be taken against Iranian-backed, who have been attacking US and coalition forces across the region for months in response to the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
A Biden administration official told CNN that the strike on the Kataib Hezbollah commander does not mark the end of a series of retaliatory actions, with more to come in the coming days in response to the killing of the three American service members.
Following the attack on Tower 22, Kataib Hezbollah said that they were ceasing their attacks and operations against U.S. forces in the region so as not to embarrass the Iraqi government.
Kataib Hezbollah is thought to be a key faction of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iranian-backed coalition that claimed responsibility for more of the attacks that targeted U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria after the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
The group is also a member of the Popular Mobilization Forces which was created some ten years ago to fight ISIS and was later officially recognized as a part of Iraqi government forces.
Al-Saedi was not the first commander of Iranian-backed forces in Iraq to be assassinated by the U.S. during the current confrontation. In fact, the attack on Tower 22 is thought to be a response to the January 4 U.S. drone strike on Baghdad that killed Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi, a senior commander of Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba.
The assassination of al-Saedi will certainly lead to more escalation against U.S. forces in Iraq, Syria and possibly other neighboring countries like Kuwait and Jordan. Washington attempts to deter Iranian-backed forces will backfire, like always.
