Top Iran commander Qasem Soleimani got killed in airstrike at Baghdad airport

A US strike
killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and the deputy head of Iraq’s
Hashed al-Shaabi military force at Baghdad’s airport early Friday, the Hashed
announced.

“The deputy
head of the Hashed, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and head of the Quds Force, Qasem
Soleimani, were killed in a US strike that targeted their car on the Baghdad
International Airport road,” the group said in a statement.

The
international airport was hit in a bombardment of missiles just after midnight,
Iraq’s military said.

Security
sources said the rockets targeted a Hashed convoy and left eight people dead,
including important figures.

The Hashed
is a network of mostly-Shiite armed units, many of whom have very close ties to
Tehran, who have been officially incorporated into Iraq’s state security
forces.

Muhandis is
the Hashed’s deputy chief but is widely recognised as the real shot-caller
within the group. He has been blacklisted by the US.