Day after killing Soleimani, US strikes target Hashd al-Shaabi in Iraq

Baghdad, Jan 04: A fresh US strike targeting a commander of Iraq's Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces has killed at least 6 people early on Saturday. The strike comes a day after an American drone killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top general.

The fresh attack took place along the Taji Road north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. The Hashd al-Shaabi also known as the Popular Mobilisation Force, however, denied that a senior commander was killed in the strike.

Al Jazeera reported that at least 6 persons had been killed, including medics. The Taji Raod leads to a base of the non-US coalition forces, including the Italian and British troops.

Al Jazeera also reported that a group of vehicles were hit. The Popular Mobilisation Force is a wing of the Iraqi militias under the Iraqi military.

General Qassem Suleimani, commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Quds Force unit, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) were killed in a strike at the Baghdad airport on Friday.

The Pentagon confirmed the killing and said it was done on the direction of the President.
Suleimani has led Iran's Quds Force since 1988. The Quds Force is an elite unit in the Iran's Revolutionary Guards and is responsible for clandestine operations abroad.

Suleimani played a crucial role in bolstering the Syrian government's fight in the civil war and also in fighting the Islamic State.

He first came to prominence in the 1980s during the Iran-Iraq War. His Quds Force reported directly to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was a hugely significant figure in the Iranian regime.