Iranian Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, head of the elite Quds Force, was killed early on Friday in a US air strike on his convoy at Baghdad International Airport, the Pentagon said.
Top Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack, a militia spokesman said.
“This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Iran‘s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) confirmed in a statement that Soleimani was killed.
Ahmed al-Assadi, a spokesman for Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), the umbrella grouping of Iran-backed militias, blamed the United States and Israel.
“The American and Israeli enemy is responsible for killing the mujahideen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and Qassem Soleimani,” he said.
Strikes had been carried out against two targets linked to Iran in Baghdad on Thursday, US officials earlier told Reuters.
Iraqi paramilitary groups said on Friday that three rockets hit the airport, killing five members of Iraqi paramilitary groups and two “guests.”
The rockets landed near the air cargo terminal, burning two vehicles, killing and injuring several people.
Local militia commander Abu Muntathar al-Hussaini told Reuters:
“Haj Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were riding in one vehicle when it was struck by two successive guided missiles launched from an American helicopter while they were on their way from the arrivals hall on the road that leads out of Baghdad Airport.”
He said the second vehicle was carrying bodyguards from the PMF and was hit by one rocket.
“The American criminals had detailed information on the convoy’s movements.”
