BAGHDAD –(AP) – Iraqi state TV and three Iraqi officials say Iranian Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, has been killed in an airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport.
The officials said the strike also killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iran’s-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Meanwhile, the New Year’s Eve attack on the U.S. Embassy compound in Iraq’s capital has exposed a deepening divide between Washington and Baghdad over Iran’s role in Iraq.
Pentagon leaders on Thursday said the Iraqi government must do more to control Iran-backed militia fighters, who reached the U.S. compound unimpeded by Iraqi security forces.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the U.S. sees signs that more attacks may be planned and that U.S. forces are prepared to take preemptive action if they get sufficient warning.
He spoke to reporters two days after he sent hundreds of paratroopers to Kuwait as a backup force.
