The US has assassinated Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, one of the leaders of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a network of militias backed by Iran, in an attack that could further destabilise the Middle East following the massive bomb attack inside Iran on Tuesday. 

Al-Saidi, also known as Abu Taqwa, was killed by a drone as his car entered the garage of the al-Nujaba militia's headquarters, resulting in two deaths and five injuries.

The US military admitted carrying out the strike in Baghdad against an Iraqi militia leader it blames for attacks against US forces in the country, a US official told Reuters. A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the strike hit a vehicle in Baghdad and was targeting the leader of the Harakat al Nujaba militia, the official said without naming the person.

Since the Israel-Hamas war commenced on October 7, Iraqi groups have hit US troops and CIA black sites in Kurdistan more than 100 times in response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

The Bagdad air strike follows two large bombs in Iran that killed over 100 people and injured almost twice as many a day earlier at a memorial ceremony in Kerman, Iran, commemorating the fourth anniversary of the US assassination of top Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani.

It also comes two days after a suspected Israeli drone attack killed Saleh al-Arouri, Hamas’ deputy leader, in Beirut. 

This latest assassination will only inflame anti-US sentiment in the region and will be immediately linked to January 2’s bombing at the Suleimani memorial. Suleimani  was also assassinated by a precision US missile.

The PMF accused the United States of "brutal aggression" and Iraqi politicians expressed outrage.  The Head of Iraq’s Shi’ite Nabni Alliance, Hadi Al-Amiri, condemned the bombing in a statement received by Al-Sumaria News.

“We strongly condemn the heinous crime committed by the criminal American forces, by targeting one of the headquarters of the Popular Mobilisation Forces in the capital, Baghdad, today, and the assassination of the martyr, Commander Abu Taqwa Al-Saeedi, and his companions.”

He said that he held the “Iraqi government responsible for any disregard or laxity in the serious demand for the immediate removal of the so-called international coalition forces from Iraqi soil”.

Al-Amiri added, "This presence has become a threat to the security and safety of the Iraqi people, and a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty".

The Iraqi Presidency announced following the strike: "This aggression constitutes a violation of Iraq's security and sovereignty and is a clear violation of relations between Iraq and the International Coalition."

Security has been tightened around the strike site on Baghdad's Palestine Street, preventing journalists from approaching. Iraqi warplanes have been observed patrolling the area overhead.