Gunmen have killed a prominent pro-Iran militia commander, Taleb Abbas Ali al-Saedi in Baghdad, Iraq.
Al-Saedi, who is a High-level Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) leader was killed late on Saturday in Karbala, a city about 62 miles southwest of Baghdad.
According to local media, al-Saedi, who was also the commander of the Karbala Brigades, a unit within the Iran-backed Shiite PMF umbrella group was ‘assassinated’ by unknown gunmen, but gave no further details about the shooters.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military activity in the Middle East, is yet to comment on the development.
The shooting is following the January 3 U.S. drone strike that killed another PMF leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, alongside Iranian General Qassem Soleimani.
Soleimani’s funeral procession was held last week at Karbala, a Shiite holy city where mourners raised the red flags of revenge upon his death.
Iran owns up to shooting Ukraine airliner
In a related development, there was a new twist on Saturday, when Iran admitted that it had accidentally shot down a civilian passenger plane full of its citizens amid a ‘revenge’ strike on U.S. forces that produced no casualties.
This led Iranians to gather in the streets of Tehran to demand the resignation of Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei after the regime admitted it had mistakenly shot down the plane.
