Iraq on Thursday labeled the U.S.-led coalition "factor of instability" a day after fresh U.S. airstrike killed a senior pro-Iran armed group commander.
The U.S. attack Wednesday came after a wave of strikes on Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria last week following the killing of three American troops in neighboring Jordan on Jan. 28.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said the commander killed Wednesday was targeted "in response to the attacks on U.S. service members."
The strike killed "a Kataeb Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on U.S. forces in the region," according to CENTCOM.
"The United States will continue to take necessary action to protect our people. We will not hesitate to hold responsible all those who threaten our forces' safety," it added.
Iraqi authorities slammed the strike as a "blatant assassination" in a residential neighborhood of Baghdad.
"The international coalition is completely overstepping the reasons and objectives for which it is present on our territory," said Yehia Rasool, the military spokesman for Iraq's prime minister.
"This path pushes the Iraqi government more than ever before to end the coalition's mission which has become a factor of instability for Iraq," he added.
He was referring to the U.S.-led international military alliance formed in 2014 to fight Daesh – the year the terrorist group overran nearly a third of Iraq's territory.
Kataeb Hezbollah – which announced it was suspending its attacks on U.S. forces after the deadly Jordan attack – said one of its commanders had been killed, identifying him as Abu Baqr al-Saadi. He was responsible for "military affairs" in Syria, an official from the group told AFP.
The Hashed al-Shaabi, a coalition of mainly pro-Iran paramilitaries – of which Kataeb Hezbollah is part – now integrated into Iraq's regular security forces, also confirmed Saadi's death.
An Interior Ministry official said a total of three people – two Kataeb Hezbollah leaders and their driver – had died in the strike, which was carried out by a drone in the east Baghdad neighborhood of Al Mashtal.
