New US Airstrike on Pro-Iran Convoy in Iraq ahead of Soleimani’s Funeral, several killed

A fresh airstrike hit pro-Iran fighters in Iraq early Saturday, as fears grew of a proxy war erupting between Washington and Tehran a day after an American drone strike killed a top Iranian general.

It came hours ahead of a planned mourning march for Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi paramilitary heavyweight Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, slain in a precision drone strike by the US in Baghdad on Friday.

The

assassination was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions

between Iran and the US, which pledged to send more troops to the region even

as US President Donald Trump insisted he did not want war.

Almost

exactly 24 hours later, a new strike targeted a convoy belonging to the Hashed

al-Shaabi, an Iraqi paramilitary network whose Shiite-majority factions have

close ties to Iran, the group said in a statement.

It did not

say who was responsible but sources reported it was a US airstrike.

A police

source said the bombardment north of Baghdad left “dead and wounded,”

without providing a specific toll. There was no immediate comment from the US.

US officials

said the 62-year-old, who had been blacklisted by the US, was killed when a

drone hit his vehicle near Baghdad’s international airport.