US strike kills militia leader blamed for Iraq attacks: US official

The US military carried out a retaliatory strike in Baghdad on Thursday (Jan 4) that killed a militia leader it blames for recent attacks on US personnel, a US official told Reuters.

The US military carried out a retaliatory strike in Baghdad on Thursday (Jan 4) that killed a militia leader it blames for recent attacks on US personnel, a US official told Reuters.

Iraqi police sources and witnesses said a drone fired at least two rockets in eastern Baghdad at a facility used by the Iraqi militia group al-Nujaba'a.

Police and militia sources said the rockets hit a vehicle inside the Nujaba'a headquarters and killed four people, including a local group commander and one of his aides. Health sources confirmed the death toll.

The USmilitary has come under attack at least 100 times in Iraq and Syria since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones.

The United States has 2,500 troops deployed in Iraq and 900 in neighbouring Syria in a bid to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State militants.

"The Iraqi armed forces hold the international coalition forces responsible for this unjustified attack on an Iraqi security entity," the prime minister's military spokesman said, referring to Thursday's strike.

The statement described the militia group as an Iraqi force operating with the authorisation of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.