Iran's Quds Force Commander Killed in Bagdad Airport Attack by US


Updated (1)hr ago by Iran's Fars News Agency Official Report

Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Qods Force Major General Qassem Soleimani was martyred in a targeted assassination attack by US aircraft at Baghdad International Airport early Friday morning.
"General Qassem Soleimani has been martyred by the US helicopters after lifetime efforts," the IRGC said in a statement early Friday morning.
The airstrike also martyred Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), or Hashad al-Shabi. The PMF media arm said the two were martyred in an American airstrike that targeted their vehicle on the road to the airport.
A PMF official said seven people were martyred by missiles fired by the US helicopters at Baghdad International Airport.
He said the dead included the PMF airport protocol officer, Mohammed Reda.
The Pentagon confirmed the attack in a statement.
The attack came amid tensions that started by the US attack on PMF units that killed 25 Iraqi popular forces. A day later, Iraqi people attacked the US embassy in Baghdad. On Wednesday President Donald Trump ordered about 750 US soldiers deployed to the Middle East.
US officials earlier suggested they were to engage in further retaliatory attacks in Iraq.
The developments also represent a major downturn in Iraq-US relations that could further undermine US influence in the region and American troops in Iraq and weaken Washington’s hand in its pressure campaign against Iran.
US President Donald Trump was vacationing on his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, but sent out a tweet of an American flag.
The attack represents a dramatic escalation by the US toward Iran after months of tensions. The tensions take root in Trump’s decision in May 2018 to withdraw the US from Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, struck under his predecessor

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

2 Jan, 2020 22:58  / Updated 2 hours ago

5 Iran-backed Iraqi militia officials & 'important guests' killed at Baghdad airport in alleged US attack
FILE PHOTO: The Baghdad International Airport. ©  Wikipedia / Jim Gordon
Several rockets have landed at the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq. At least seven people, including senior officials with the Iran-backed militia, have reportedly been killed in an apparent US air strike.


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.


Iran Quds Force commander killed in strike on convoy at Baghdad Airport
FILE PHOTO: Head of the Iranian Quds Force Qassem Soleimani (center) attending a meeting of Revolutionary Guard's commanders in Tehran. ©  AFP / Khamenei.IR
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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