US STRIKES ON IRGC CONTINUE, ISRAEL PREPARES FOR BLOWBACK
Fighters from the Iraqi Imam Ali Brigade take part in a military parade on August 8, 2015 in the mostly Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf. (Credit: Haidar Hamdani, AFP, Getty Images).
The United States continued its offensive footing in Iraq Friday, with reports of an airstrike targeting an Iranian-linked militia commander in Iraq. The Pentagon reported a “high probability” that Shubul al-Zaidi, commander of the Imam Ali Brigades, a PMF militia in Iraq closely affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, was killed in an airstrike in Baghdad yesterday. Imam Ali Brigades has denied the death of their leader on social media.
Meanwhile, another 3,500 US soldiers from the 82nd Airborne 1st Combat Brigade were ordered to Kuwait today, in preparation for what many officials and analysts consider to be the inevitable retaliation by Iran against American targets in the region for the drone-strike death of IRGC commander Qassam Soleimani on Friday morning. Solemani’s successor, Esmail Ghanni, has already vowed revenge, addressing the Iranian public today to “be patient, and you will see the bodies of Americans all over the Middle East.” The US State Department and Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs have strongly advised their citizens to leave Iraq immediately, and US diplomatic installations are on high alert throughout the Middle East in the wake of the attacks.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu praised US President Trump on Friday for ordering the strike on Soleimani, stating that “Trump is worthy of full appreciation for acting with determination, strongly and swiftly.” The Israeli premier cut short a diplomatic trip to Greece on Friday in order to return home to coordinate a defensive posture on the home front. Observers have reported a sharp uptick in IAF overflights in Lebanon and the Golan, and Iron Dome batteries have been redeployed to northern coastal areas around Tel Aviv and Haifa, in anticipation of retaliation by Lebanese Hezbollah and other Iranian-sponsored militias in Syria. The deployment of Iranian-linked militias in Syria towards the Israeli Golan frontier has already been observed, and Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who considered Soleimani to be a mentor, gave an address on Friday in which he stated that like-minded jihadists would “raise a flag in all battlefields,” a veiled threat against Israel.
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Sources:
https://www.newsweek.com/six-iraqi-militia-members-killed-second-drone-strike-ordered-president-trump-baghdad-1480365
https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-u-s-military-kills-more-top-iranian-backed-terrorist-leaders-in-airstrikes-report-says/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/u-s-sending-thousands-more-troops-mideast-after-baghdad-attack-n1110081
https://www.timesofisrael.com/soleimani-successor-promises-bodies-of-americans-across-the-middle-east/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-lauds-trump-for-killing-of-irans-soleimani-says-israel-stands-by-us/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-mourns-soleimani-cites-major-role-in-supporting-palestinian-resistance/
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