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A U.S. Special Operations drone strike in Baghdad on Thursday killed a senior figure in an Iran-linked militant group that is part of Iraq’s security apparatus, drawing sharp criticism from the Iraqi government, as well as allied groups.
The Pentagon acknowledged responsibility for the strike, saying in a statement that U.S. forces had taken “necessary and proportionate action,” adding that the attack “was taken in self-defense” and that no civilians had been harmed.
A missile fired by the drone struck a vehicle carrying three men near the logistics headquarters for the 12th brigade of the group, Harakat al-Nujaba, killing a brigade commander known as Abu Taqwa and two others, according to Iraqi security officials. The group, closely linked to Iran, was designated as a global terrorist organization by the State Department in 2019.
Nujaba, however, has remained part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella organization that is in turn part of the government’s broader security forces.
An Iraqi government spokesman condemned the United States for the attack, calling it a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and security of Iraq” and “no different from a terrorist act.”
Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that the strike had targeted Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, who is also known as Abu Taqwa, and said he had been “actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel.”
General Ryder said the strike had also killed another militant traveling with Mr. al-Jawari. He declined to provide further details about the strike.
In recent weeks, the U.S. military has responded several times to more than 70 attacks by Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq against U.S. bases and camps in Iraq and Syria. Those U.S. strikes twice targeted another Iraqi militia linked to Iran, Kataib Hezbollah, as well as several others.
The United States, however, has generally avoided striking targets inside Baghdad in recent years because of the city’s high population density.
Hamas, the armed Palestinian group that controls Gaza and led the attack in southern Israel on Oct. 7, released a statement condemning the attack on the Nujaba fighters. The Nujaba group has tried to aid Hamas in its fight against Israel, taking responsibility for a drone strike in November that hit a school in the southern Israeli city of Eilat.
The killing of the three operatives prompted calls from Iraqi political parties with links to Iran for the immediate withdrawal of all United States forces from Iraq. There are about 2,500 U.S. forces in Iraq, primarily in bases far from population centers.
Falih Hassan contributed reporting.
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