Iranian military figure Major-General Qassem Soleimani, popularly regarded as the second strongest man in Iran, was killed in a US missile attack at Baghdad’s international airport. Iraqi officials and the state television have reported that Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the current attack.
Ahmed al-Assadi, Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) spokesman for grouping of Iran-backed militias, has also confirmed the deaths of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
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“The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani,” he said.
Reliable sources from the PMF revealed to Al Jazeera that the US missiles targeted and destroyed two vehicles carrying “high-profile guests”, who arrived at the airport and were being escorted by a PMF official.
The weapon from the US army landed close to the air cargo terminal, instantly destroying two vehicles and killing seven people on the spot.
A statement issued from the US Department of Defence said, “Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”
Meanwhile, the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, described the attack as an act of US terrorism and said that the “US bears responsibility for all the consequences of its rogue adventurism.”
Furthermore, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have threatened violent retaliation against the United States of America as payback for Qassem Soleimani’s death. Experts have projected that this attack is likely to lead to more destabilisation of the region, with a possibility of having war breakout.
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Soleimani was the commanding officer of the Quds Force from 1998 till his death, a special division of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that is charged with carrying out unusual warfare and intelligence activities overseas.
The death of the Iranian Major-General, Qassam Soleimani would not come as a surprise as he had been a constant thorn on the US and its Middle Eastern allies, Israel and Saudia Arabia. He was spreading Iranian influence across the region. He also played a key role in defeating ISIS in Syria, and propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad regime during the 2011 civil war.
The US strike on Iraq follows few days after Iraqi protesters matched to the US embassy in Baghdad, in response for US bombings on Sunday that killed at least 25 people and wounded 51 from the Iranian backed militia Kataeb Hezbollah.
The US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for the embassy assault and ordered the immediate deployment of 4,000 troops to Kuwait. And therefore warned that the Iranian regime “will pay a very big price” for its actions, saying “this is not a warning, it is a threat.”
Trump said, “Iran killed an American contractor, wounding many. We strongly responded, and always will. Now Iran is orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. They will be held fully responsible.”
The attack on the US embassy followed the funerals of the dead militia fighters, which attracted thousands of mourners.
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After the processions, mourners and protestors rushed through the heavily fortified Green Zone without being stopped by Iraqi military.
They burned US flags and chanted ‘Death to America! as they head straight to the US embassy. They stormed the main door and set fire to the reception area, forcing US soldiers inside to fire tear gas, stun grenades and warning shots.
In the ensuing chaos 62 of the Iraqi assailants were injured, while no US citizens were reported hurt.
