BREAKING: Iraqis Gathering Outside U.S. Embassy in Response to Drone Strike

It has been reported that a U.S. drone strike targeting members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia was carried out early Wednesday in Iraq.

This has caused a conflict between U.S. and Iraqi military forces, which may be escalating.

BREAKING:

⚡ 🇺🇸🇮🇶 The US and the Iraqi military are facing a direct clash

The US has targeted members of the Iraqi army in Baghdad. Calls for US Embassy seizures.

Several explosions are heard in Baghdad, according to reports, the US is targeting members of the Popular… pic.twitter.com/9eyt516PA4

— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) February 7, 2024

The drone strike that caused the uproar reportedly killed a senior commander of the Kataib Hezbollah militia.

Kataib Hezbollah members are part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, which is part of the Iraqi armed forces.

The strike has sparked protests in Baghdad.

Protests in #Iraq’s capital #Baghdad after a #USA air strike killed 2 members of an #Iran-backed Iraqi militia, apparently in retaliation for attacks on USA forces. For years USA administrations coexisted with these militias against a common enemy – ISIS pic.twitter.com/QsoE6O4ItR

— Donatella Rovera (@DRovera) February 7, 2024

One social media user posted a video claiming Iraqis are currently gathering outside the U.S. embassy in Baghdad.

Iraqis gather to attack the American embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone

Iraqi security forces blocked all roads leading to the American embassy.

The American Embassy in Baghdad has been placed on high alert. pic.twitter.com/zlWsKj3JPB

— S p r i n t e r (@Sprinter99800) February 7, 2024

This story is developing.

The New York Post reported on the Wednesday drone strike:

A U.S. drone strike hit a car in the Iraqi capital Wednesday night, killing three members of the powerful Kataib Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander, officials said.

The strike came on a main thoroughfare in the Mashtal neighborhood in eastern Baghdad. A crowd gathered as emergency response teams picked through the wreckage. Security forces closed off the heavily guarded Green Zone, where a number of diplomatic compounds are located, amid calls for protesters to storm the U.S. embassy.

Two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said that a senior Kataib Hezbollah commander was targeted in a U.S. strike on Wednesday in Iraq. They were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Two officials with Iran-backed militias in Iraq said that one of the three killed was Wissam Mohammed “Abu Bakr” al-Saadi, the commander in charge of Kataib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to journalists.

Reuters has more on this developing story:

One of the sources said three people were killed and that the vehicle targeted was used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a state security agency composed of dozens of armed groups, many of them close to Iran.

Kataib Hezbollah fighters and commanders are part of the PMF. Three U.S. troops were killed in January in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border that the Pentagon said bore the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah. The group then announced it was suspending military operations against U.S. troops in the region.

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Iraq and Syria have witnessed near-daily tit-for-tat attacks between hardline Iran-backed armed groups and U.S. forces stationed in the region since the Gaza war began in October.