Top Iranian Commander Qassem Soleimani killed in US Airstrike in Baghdad

Guwahati, January 3, 2020:

Top Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis were killed in a US airstrike in Baghdad on Friday.

President Donald Trump ordered an airstrike at Baghdad International Airport leading to the assassination of the key military commander Qassem Soleimani after the pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy.

Reports said that at least five people were killed and nine wounded.

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The action of the US President has escalated tensions between the two countries as Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed revenge for the killing, saying that "harsh revenge awaits the criminals" involved.

The strike also violated the conditions of US military presence in Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi said he considered the assassination of Muhandis an "attack on the Iraqi state, government, and people."

Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was the head of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force unit -- and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis -- the deputy head of the Iran-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)

The PMF is a Shia paramilitary force made up of former militias with close ties to Iran, formed in 2014 to fight ISIS. It was recognized under a 2016 Iraqi law as an independent military force and it answers directly to the prime minister.

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Soleimani and his Quds Force were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American and coalition service members, and the wounding of thousands more, the Pentagon added. The Pentagon also blamed the Iranian general for orchestrating attacks on coalition bases in Iraq in recent months, including an attack on December 27 that culminated in the deaths of an American contractor and Iraqi personnel, reported CNN.

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