Iran’s top military chief killed in US strike

United States has killed the leader of Iran’s elite Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, in an airstrike in Baghdad.

The Pentagon confirmed this on Friday.

The Iranian state TV network also confirmed Soleimani’s death, citing a Revolutionary Guard statement.

The US Department of Defense in a statement said, “At the direction of the president, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing Qassem Soleimani.”

The Pentagon added that the strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. 

The strike also reportedly killed Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of Iraqi paramilitary group, Hashd Shaabi.

“The deputy head of the Hashd, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and head of the Quds Force, Qassem Soleimani, were killed in a US strike that targeted their car on the Baghdad International Airport road,” said Hashd Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), in a statement early Friday.

The PMF had initially announced that five of its members and two “guests” were killed in an airstrike on their vehicles on the grounds of Baghdad International Airport on Friday.

Among those killed, the PMF also said, was Mohammed Reda al-Jaberi, who was the militia’s protocol officer and head of public relations.