5 Iran-backed Iraqi militia officials & ‘important guests’ killed at Baghdad airport in alleged US attack

There have been conflicting reports as to how the incident unfolded, with the Iraqi security media cell reporting that three rockets came down inside the airport perimeter, near the air cargo terminal, early Friday morning local time. The resulting explosions set two vehicles alight, injuring civilians, it said.

However, the Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said that two of its vehicles in a convoy passing by the airport were struck, in what apparently was a high-precision attack by the US forces.

The umbrella group of Shia militias integrated into the Iraq’s armed forces was blamed for the siege of the US embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.

Muhammad Reza Al-Jabri, director of public relations at the PMF, was reportedly killed in the strike. The two vehicles were captured on video burning on the road leading to the airport.

Hours after the attack, the PMF confirmed the death of its PR director, calling the alleged retaliatory sortie a “cowardly US bombing,” according to Reuters.  Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy chief of the Popular Mobilization Forces, was killed in the raid as well.

A total of five militia members and two “important guests” perished in the attack, Reuters reported.

One of the guests was apparently the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani. A spokesman for Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces, confirmed his demise to Reuters, blaming “the American and Israeli enemy” for his killing.

There have been unconfirmed reports of injuries among Iraqi military forces.

The incident forced the airport into an immediate shutdown. All inbound and outbound flights at the airport have been cancelled or diverted for the time being.

The airport is located next to the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center (BDSC), which is used by diplomats and intelligence operatives, as well as the US-led anti-terrorist coalition forces in Iraq. The area is also home to the joint counter-terrorism center.

The strikes come amid soaring tensions between Tehran and Washington over recent events in Iraq. A US air raid on an Iraqi Shia militia last weekend triggered a heated demonstration at the US embassy complex in Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone on Tuesday. Protesters smashed windows, set fires and chanted anti-American slogans. Washington insisted the raid was in retaliation for a militia rocket attack on a US base in Kirkuk, and that Iran provided backing for the assault, though offering no evidence for the claim.

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