ROUND TWO: Iraqi Militia Leader May be Among Six Killed in Another U.S. Drone Strike in Baghdad

By admin On Jan 3, 2020

Six members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an official Iraqi militia organization with ties to Iran, were killed in another U.S. drone strike in northern Baghdad on Friday, multiple officials told Newsweek. The strike comes one day after President Donald Trump approved an operation that killed an elite Iranian general.

Pentagon officials told Newsweek Friday evening the operation was targeting Imam Ali Brigades with a “high probability” the strike resulted in the death of its leader, Shubul al-Zaidi. The U.S. operation that targeted Zaidi was a part of the same strategy Trump approved Thursday morning, which killed Iranian Revolutionary Guard Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani.

Speaking Friday from his Florida resort in Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that the strike that killed Soleimani was ordered “to stop a war” and prevent attacks on American personnel.

“Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act and terminated him,” Trump said, speaking to reporters. “We took action last night to stop a war, we did not take action to start a war.”