Houthi drone expert among those killed in U.S. strike in Iraq

A Houthi drone specialist who had traveled to Iraq to train other Iranian-backed fighters was among those killed in a U.S. airstrike near Baghdad last week, American and Iraqi defense officials told The Washington Post, illustrating the extensive cooperation among militant groups supported by Tehran.

The July 30 airstrike in Musayib, a town south of Iraq’s capital, targeted militants preparing to launch an attack on U.S. forces, officials have said. The strike killed Hussein Abdullah Mastoor al-Shabal, a Houthi commander, though the Pentagon was unaware of who he was until after an assessment of the operation’s results, said the U.S. official, who like others in this story spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the airstrike.

The strike, the first such American operation in Iraq in months, is part of a broader cycle of violence that has gripped the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas erupted in October. The incident followed attacks on American positions in Iraq and Syria in recent days, officials have said, ending what had been months of relative calm between U.S. troops and the militias there.

The disclosure of al-Shabal’s death comes as U.S. and Israeli officials brace for Iran’s avowed response to the killing last week of a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran and a top Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr, outside Beirut. The Pentagon is repositioning assets and moving additional forces into the Middle East and Europe to defend against an anticipated attack on Israel.

Four Kataib Hezbollah militia members also were killed in last week’s airstrike, according to the group, one in a constellation of Iran-backed outfits overseen by the Iraqi government.

The Houthis have emerged as a security threat in the region, attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea and harassing U.S. forces deployed to help protect them. In response, the Biden administration has directed numerous strikes on the group’s facilities in Yemen, including missile and drone launch sites.

Last week’s airstrike occurred as U.S. and Iraqi officials negotiate a possible withdrawal of at least some of the approximately 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq. An additional 900 troops are based in Syria, with a mission to counter the Islamic State, and are reliant on personnel in Iraq for logistical help.