The killing of Iraq’s powerful Shiite Hashd Shaabi militia deputy leader, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, and high-ranking Iranian General Qassem Soleimani has sparked World War III fears.
The Iran-backed Hashd Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), said they were killed in a U.S. strike targeting their vehicle on the Baghdad International Airport road.
Soleimani is the Commander of Iran’s Quds Force, a unit in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRCG).
Their deaths are the latest escalation in tensions between the U.S. and Iran, coming after thousands of supporters of the Shiite militia broke into the U.S. embassy compound in central Baghdad on Tuesday.
Protesters set fire to one of the gates of walls around the embassy buildings and camped outside until the next day.
The two days of protests were triggered by U.S. strikes in Iraq and Syria on Sunday that targeted the Kataib Hezbollah militia group.
The U.S. airstrikes killed at least 25 militiamen.
Kataib Hezbollah, a part of the Hashd Shaabi umbrella group, had been blamed for an attack last week that killed a US citizen.
Loud explosions were heard near the airport early Friday, which Iraqi security said was three Katyusha rockets falling down in the vicinity killing several people and leaving two vehicles burnt.
Shortly after, the militia said five of its members were killed in the attack, including Mohammed Reda al-Jaberi, who was the group’s head of the public relations and protocol officer.
The U.S. killed Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a “defensive action,” the Pentagon said.
“At the direction of the President, the U.S. military has taken decisive defensive action to protect U.S. personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani,” the Pentagon statement says.
The Pentagon says Soleimani was “actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”
“General Soleimani also approved the attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that took place this week,” the statement continues.
The U.S. also held Soleimani and his Quds Force responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members and said he “orchestrated” a rocket attack on Dec. 27, which killed an American.
The development sparked World War III reactions on Twitter.
Laura Kuenssberg @ CCHQ Propaganda Dept ᵖᵃʳᵒᵈʸ@LKTranslatorBREAKING: US bombs Iran & WW3 looks likely. Boris is still holidaying in Mustique while Corbyn condemns the recklessness of Trump.
NOTE: Must think of a way to blame Corbyn for this mess on tonight’s BBC report! We can’t jeopardise a US post-Brexit trade deal, can we? #WorldWar3
Zaddy Ajala@UNCLE_AJALAHow Americans are making jokes about Trump, Iran and world war 3 is hilarious. I hope it will remain a joke, we don’t need #WWIII, we need to end terrorism and poverty in the worlD
Franz Ferdinand✔@Franz_Ferdinand
For the record, we think #WWIII is a bad idea.
