The US targeted a member of an Iranian proxy group with “US blood on his hands” in a strike in Iraq, a US official told CNN.
The target was a member of Harakat al-Nujaba, the official said, an Iranian proxy operating in Iraq and Syria, and the US had been watching him for some time before the strike.
A second US defense official said, “The United States is continuing to take action to protect our forces in Iraq and Syria by addressing the threats they face.”
The strike in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, was against a vehicle believed to be carrying the target, the official said. The US is still going through a battle damage assessment to determine if the target was killed and whether there were others in or near the car at the time of the strike.
It is unclear at this point whether the Iraqi government was notified ahead of the strike, especially since the strike was carried out in the capital. Iraq’s government has condemned US strikes carried out within its borders, calling them violations of Iraq’s sovereignty.
The strike is the second time in just over a week that the US has targeted Iran-backed militants inside Iraq. On December 25, the US struck three facilities inside Iraq used by the Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah and killed several of the militants after the group attacked Erbil Air Base and wounded three US service members, one critically.
Iran-backed groups have launched at least 118 attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria since October 17, CNN reported earlier this week.
The US has called on the Iraqi government to do more to protect US forces in the region and to go after those who carry out attacks against US and coalition forces.
The State Department announced in March 2019 that HAN and its leader, Akram ‘Abbas al-Kabi, had been designated Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
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