Iraq Reports US Airstrike Hit Convoy of Medics North of Baghdad

Strike killed six, wounded three, destroyed two medical vans

With Iraq and the region still reeling after Thursday night’s US drone strike on the Baghdad International Airport, an attack which killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani as well as top members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a new US strike was reported Friday night.

Iraqi state media identified the new attack as another US airstrike, near the Taji stadium north of Baghdad. The attack hit a convoy of medics, destroying two medical vans, and killing at least six people, also identified as medical personnel.

Reports suggest that the attack was intended to target a commander within the PMU, and while they declined to say who they thought the US was trying to kill, Twitter reports after the strike initially claimed Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali had been killed. This has since been denied, and it appears no PMU commanders were even present in the convoy.

US officials have yet to comment on the Friday attack, and it is likely to be difficult for them to explain attacking a medical convoy. After claiming the Thursday strike was meant to “stop a war,” Trump will struggle to argue bombing medical vans as comparably justifiable.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.