Iraqi TV and three Iraqi officials said Friday that Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the powerful 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-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Their deaths are a potential turning point in the Middle East and are expected to draw severe retaliation from Iran and the forces it backs in the Middle East against Israel and American interests.
The PMF blamed the United States for an attack at Baghdad International Airport Friday.
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. or Iran.
A senior Iraqi politician and a high-level security official confirmed to the Associated Press that Soleimani and al-Muhandis were among those killed in the attack. Two militia leaders loyal to Iran also confirmed the deaths, including an official with the Kataeb Hezbollah, which was involved in the attack on the U.S. Embassy this week.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said al-Muhandis had arrived to the airport in a convoy to receive Soleimani whose plane had arrived from either Lebanon or Syria. The airstrike occurred as soon as he descended from the plane to be greeted by al-Muhandis and his companions, killing them all.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject and because they were not authorized to give official statements.
The senior politician said Soleimani’s body was identified by the ring he wore.
https://twitter.com/thestevennabil/status/1212903652735586304?s=20
Soleimani had been rumored dead several times, including in a 2006 airplane crash that killed other military officials in northwestern Iran and following a 2012 bombing in Damascus that killed top aides of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. More recently, rumors circulated in November 2015 that Soleimani was killed or seriously wounded leading forces loyal to Assad as they fought around Syria’s Aleppo.
Earlier Friday, an official with an Iran-backed paramilitary force said that seven people were killed by a missile fired at Baghdad International Airport, blaming the United States.
The official with the group known as the Popular Mobilization Forces said the dead included its airport protocol officer, identifying him as Mohammed Reda.
A security official confirmed that seven people were killed in the attack on the airport, describing it as an airstrike. Earlier, Iraq’s Security Media Cell, which releases information regarding Iraqi security, said Katyusha rockets landed near the airport’s cargo hall, killing several people and setting two cars on fire.
It was not immediately clear who fired the missile or rockets or who was targeted. There was no immediate comment from the U.S.
The attack came amid tensions with the United States after a New Year’s Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The two-day embassy attack which ended Wednesday prompted President Donald Trump to order about 750 U.S. soldiers deployed to the Middle East.
The breach at the embassy followed U.S. airstrikes on Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Iran-backed militia in Iraq, the Kataeb Hezbollah. The U.S. military said the strikes were in retaliation for last week’s killing of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base that the U.S. blamed on the militia.
https://twitter.com/thestevennabil/status/1212905516948606977?s=20
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18 Responses
Thank you, President Trump.
Great News!
באבוד רשעים רינה
One day after the Siyum Hashas. The zechus was big enough to set the final events leading to Moshiach into motion.
This will set off a war, hopefully the final one. Moshiach is on the way!
Wag the dog??? I hope Trumpkopf & Co. have a plan for what comes next, including retaliation against EY.
Evidence of trauma: The photo clearly shows a small cut on his finger. Maybe it was a deep cut.
General Soleimani was identified by his ring.
I heard that, immediately after the missile strike, the Iranians conducted piece talks. One said, “I see a piece over here,” and another said, “I see a piece over there.”
General Soleimani, of blasted memory.
May he rest in pieces!
Moderator: can you please post a warning that this article contains graphic images. I certainly wished I hadn’t seen it. Thank you
Hussein Obama and John Kerry are sitting shivah now.
Lunacy. We are not at war with Iran. Therefore an act of war is illegal. Not to mention the reactions of our allies who will now have to deal with an Iran that needs to prove itself. And what will happen to the Jewish community in Iran if war breaks out?
WW1 started from an assassination!!
Midwest2= you are a BIG rachmanus!!
Kein yoveidu kol oyavecha yisrael
I go on record thanking president Trump for the fourth good thing he has bumbled his way into.
And attacking the uS embassy is what?
This isn’t an assassination. A terrorist was killed.
Fakehadorah & Mideast2, please accept my condolences for the demise of your and Obama’s dear friend Qassem Soleimani. I feel your pain.
The usual STUPID SUSPECTS are back here to be so kind and share their stupidity with the rest of the world.
Midwest with GodolHaTipshim thanks for your stupidity we really appreciate it. We can’t forget what it looks like to have people degrade a president who did more good for the yidden, than any other president. Hakoras Hatov in full display.
@midwest.
What is illegal? Taking out someone who is planning to attack you? Or military action without congressional approval? neither of those are illegal, asthe first is self defense and the second only requires notification within the first 48 hrs post attack.
Killing a terrorist in Iraq is not an of war against Iran. He was an evil man with the blood of thousands on his hands.