A new US air strike targeted a commander in Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force on Saturday, state television reported, a day after an American drone strike killed Qassim Soleimani, a top Iranian general. The Iraqi army told Reuters that airstrikes targeting Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces - an umbrella grouping of Iran-backed Shi’ite militias - struck near Taji, north of Baghdad, killing five people and critically wounded three, an Iraqi army source said late on Friday. Two of the three vehicles making up a militia convoy were found burned, the source said, as well as six burned corpses. The strikes took place at 1.12am local time. The attack comes less than 24 hours after the Americans killed Soleimani, the head of Iran's Quds Force and only hours after Donald Trump insisted that the US "took action last night to stop a war.... not to start a war." On Friday night, the White House insisted it acted in response to clear threats against Americans. Robert O'Brien, the US national security adviser, said Soleimani had arrived in Baghdad from Damascus and had been moving around the Middle East plotting imminent attacks on US diplomats and military personnel. Iran has vowed to retaliate against the US airstrike, calling the move America's "biggest mistake in west Asia" and threatening "severe vengeance". 12:01AM Watch: The US attack on Soleimani 11:59PM Airstrikes kill five - Iraqi army source An Iraqi official says an airstrike has hit two cars carrying Iran-backed militia north of Baghdad, one day after US attack on Qassem Soleimani. The official said five members of the militia were killed. He said the identity of those killed was not immediately known. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters. Reports of an airstrike targeted a vehicle carrying important Iraqi (Hashd al-Shaabi) figures near Taji northern Baghdad.Iraqpic.twitter.com/zjOD0zmt7k— Baxtiyar Goran (@BaxtiyarGoran) January 3, 2020
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