Reports said an Iraqi paramilitary commander was targeted in the attack but a spokesman of the PMF, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, said those who were killed included medics [File: Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen/Reuters]
A new US air raid targeting a commander of Iraq’s Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitary forces has instead killed at least six people early on Saturday, according to news reports, a day after a drone attack by the United States killed top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.
Iraq’s state television said the attack took place along Taji Road north of the capital Baghdad, but did not name the targeted figure.
More:
US killing of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani ‘an act of war’
Was Trump’s order to assassinate Iran’s Qassem Soleimani legal?
Iran’s Soleimani killed in US air raid: All the latest updates
Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), denied that a senior commander was in the convoy.
Al Jazeera has learned that at least six people, including medics, were killed in the latest raid. Reuters news agency reported that three other people were critically wounded.
Taji Road, where the attack took place, leads to a base belonging to non-US coalition forces, including British and Italian troops, according to Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Baghdad.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent added that a group of vehicles was hit.
A police source told AFP news agency that the bombardment of the Hashd convoy left many “dead and wounded”, without providing a specific toll.
The PMF is an umbrella group of Iraqi militias under Iraq’s military.
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
