A US drone strike in Baghdad has killed three members of the powerful Kata’ib Hezbollah militia, including a high-ranking commander, according to US officials.
The drone strike hit a car in the Iraqi capital – and was in response to a drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan towards the end of January.
Sky News’ Alex Crawford arrived at the scene shortly after the blast and said there was “great tension” and a “great deal of anger towards America”.
“There has been a furious response about the killing,” she said.
“The locals round here are demanding an investigation by the Iraqi government, demanding that there is revenge.
“There is a great deal of anger, a great deal of tension here.”
Crowds gathered as emergency response teams picked through the wreckage.
Image: A burnt-out car following the strike in Baghdad. Pic: Getty
The US has blamed the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a broad coalition of Iran-backed militias, for the attack in Jordan on its forces, and officials have said they suspect Kata’ib Hezbollah, in particular, of leading it.
The strike on Wednesday night hit a main road in the Mashtal neighbourhood in eastern Baghdad.
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‘They want revenge against Americans’
A US official said that a senior Kata’ib Hezbollah commander was targeted in the strike.
Two officials with Iran-backed militias in Iraq said that one of the three killed was Wissam Mohammed “Abu Bakr” al Saadi, the commander in charge of Kata’ib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to journalists.
Image: Riot police at the scene
Image: A person at the scene holds up an image of Qassam Soleimani, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were assassinated in a US air strike in 2020
Image: People at the scene of a US air strike in Baghdad, Iraq, carry an image of Muqtada al-Sadr, a prominent Iraqi Shia cleric
Security forces closed off the heavily guarded Green Zone, where a number of diplomatic compounds are located, amid calls for protesters to storm the US embassy.
Kata’ib Hezbollah earlier said in a statement that it was suspending attacks on American troops to avoid “embarrassing the Iraqi government” after the strike in Jordan, but others have vowed to continue fighting.
US officials previously said they believed Kata’ib Hezbollah to be one of several factions behind the attack, which claimed the lives of William Jerome Rivers, 46, Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23.
President Joe Biden promised a strong US response.
Kata’ib Hezbollah, an Iraq-based militant group thought to have ties to Iran, was founded in the aftermath of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and views American troops as foreign occupiers.
The US designated the group a terrorist organisation in 2009, and an American drone strike killed its leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis in 2020 at Baghdad airport.
Since 18 October, there have been 166 attacks on US military installations, according to officials in Washington.
They are said to include 67 attacks in Iraq, 98 in Syria and the one at Tower 22 in Jordan.
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Image: Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Image: Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Image: Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
An Air India flight from Ahmedabad to London has been cancelled.
No explanation has been given for the cancellation so far, Sky News understands.
However, Indian-English language channel CNN News18 reported that the cancellation of the flight, which arrived from Delhi, was due to “technical issues”.
It comes after a UK-bound Air India flight catastrophically crashed shortly after take-off from Ahmedabad airport in western India on Thursday, killing 229 passengers and 12 crew, with one person surviving the crash.
Among the victims were several British nationals, whose deaths in the crash have now been officially confirmed, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy said as he shared his condolences on X.
Yesterday, an Air India Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner – the same type as the aircraft involved in last week’s tragedy – had to return to Hong Kong mid-flight after a suspected technical issue.
Air India flight 159, which was cancelled on Tuesday, was also a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
It was due to depart from Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport at 1.10pm local time (8.40am UK time). It was set to arrive at London’s Gatwick Airport at 6.25pm UK time.
Air India’s website shows the flight was initially delayed by one hour and 50 minutes before being cancelled.
As a result, passengers have been left stranded at the airport. The next flight from Ahmedabad to London is scheduled for 11.40am local time (7.10am UK time) on Wednesday.
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Image: Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Image: Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.