Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Quds force has been killed in a US drone attack at the Baghdad airport.
The drone strike is said to have happened after General Soleimani landed at the Baghdad airport from either Syria or Lebanon, according to Iraqi Government sources. The drone attack targeted his convoy.
The Commander of an Iraqi militia group Abu Mahdi al- Muhandis who had gone to the airport to receive General Soleimani too died in the drone attack.
Also Read: Iran’s Quds Force Chief Qassim Soleimani among 7 killed in US airstrike at Baghdad airport
The US acted with precise intelligence that was available. The US Pentagon has issued a statement confirming the killing of Soleimani. The statement read:
“At the direction of the President, the US Military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Iranian Revolutionary guards- Quds Force, a US designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The elaborate statement went on to describe the acts that were planned and are being planned against US interests and members of the diplomatic corp including family members.
Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesperson for Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Force, an umbrella grouping of Iran supported militant groups, issued a statement saying:
“The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu Mahdi al- Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani”.
General Soleimani was the head of the Quds force, a special force within the revolutionary guard.
The immediate result was that oil prices rocked by nearly 4% in the morning of Asia trading hours while brent crude soared by 3.98% to US $68.90 per barrel, while US crude surged by 3. 87% to US $ 63.55 per barrel.
This strike on a top Iranian functionary is only expected to lead to further tensions between Iran and US.
Last Sunday, the Kata’ ib Hizbollah struck at a US military base in Kirkuk killing a civil contractor employed with the US forces.
The US immediately struck back at various targets inhabited by the militant group.
The US is also rushing in a greater number of troops to Iraq after the US Embassy got attacked. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper tweeted calling out Iran and its proxies for spreading terror throughout the region.
On @mitchellreports he said:
“This is part of Iran’s malign behavior that they’ve been spreading across the region from Africa all the way through the Middle East into Afghanistan now, for 40 years. And it’s this type of bad behavior that simply needs to end.” pic.twitter.com/lFuexRIMiC
— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) January 2, 2020
President Trump is said to be monitoring these developments personally.