A US airstrike is said to have struck a convoy of Iran-backed militia in Iraq – just hours after the targetted killing of Qassem Soleimani.
Just hours after Donald Trump appeared in Florida to make his first public comments about the killing of the veteran Iranian military leader, reports said a US airstrike hit two cars travelling north of Baghdad and containing members of an Iran-backed militia.
Initial reports said up to five people may have been killed, though there was no immediate confirmation of this.
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An Iraqi military source told Reuters that six members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces umbrella grouping of Iran-backed Shi’ite militias were killed in the incident, and that others were injured. A statement issued by the group claimed the convoy was made up of medics, rather than senior leaders.
On Thursday, when the US killed the 62-year-old Iranian leader in an attack said to have utilised missiles fired from Reaper drones, among the other victims was militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. A spokesman for the umbrella group, Mohammed Ridha Jabri, was also among the dead.
US airstrike kills Iran's Qassem Soleimani: Fallout in pictures
Show all 35
US airstrike kills Iran's Qassem Soleimani: Fallout in pictures
1/35
This photo released by the Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office shows a burning vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, early Friday 3 January
AP
2/35
The wreckage of the car in which general Soleimani was travelling when a targeted US airstrike struck outside Baghdad International Airport on 3 January
Ahmad Al Mukhtar via Reuters
3/35
Demonstrators burn the US and British flags during a protest in Tehran after general Soleimani was killed in a targeted airstrike by American forces
Reuters
4/35
A burning vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike. The Pentagon said Thursday that the US military has killed general Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, at the direction of Donald Trump
AP
5/35
Protesters burn Israeli and US flags as thousands of Iranians take to the streets to mourn the death of general Soleimani at the hands of America
EPA
6/35
Supporters of Donald Trump pray at an 'Evangelicals for Trump' campaign event held on the day following the killing of general Soleimani. At the event, the president praised the "flawless strike that eliminated the terrorist ringleader"
AFP via Getty
7/35
A huge procession of mourners gather in Baghdad for the funeral of general Soleimani on 4 January
AP
8/35
Thousands of Iranians take to the streets to mourn the death of Soleimani during an anti-US demonstration to condemn the killing of Soleimani, after Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran
EPA
9/35
Iraqis perform a mourning prayer for slain major general Qasem Soleimani of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards at the Great Mosque of Kufa
AFP via Getty
10/35
A billboard reading 'Death to America and Israel', installed by Iran-backed shiite armed groups at a street in Jadriyah district in Baghdad, Iraq
EPA
11/35
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him visiting the family of Soleiman
KHAMENEI.IR/AFP via Getty
12/35
Thousands of Iranians take to the streets in Tehran
EPA
13/35
Pakistani Shiite Muslims burn a mock of a US flag as they hold pictures of General Qasem Soleimani during a protest against the USA, outside the US Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan
EPA
14/35
Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Jalal Feiruznia, looks to a portrait of Soleimani, as he receives condolences at the Iranian embassy, in Beirut, Lebanon
AP
15/35
People make their way on the street while a screen on the wall of a cinema shows a portrait Soleimani in Tehran
AP
16/35
Aziz Asmar, one of two Syrian painters who completed a mural following the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani poses next to his creation in the rebel-held Syrian town of Dana in the northwestern province of Idlib
AFP via Getty
17/35
A demonstration in Tehran
AFP via Getty
18/35
An anti-US demonstration to condemn the killing of Soleimani, after Friday prayers in Tehran
EPA
19/35
Mujtaba al-Husseini, the representative of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivers a speech in the holy shrine city of Najaf
AFP via Getty
20/35
Pakistani Shiite Muslims burn a mock of a US and Israeli flags as they hold pictures of General Qasem Soleimani during a protest against the USA, outside the US Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan
EPA
21/35
Protesters demonstrate in Tehran
AP
22/35
Pakistani Shi'ite Muslims hold pictures of General Qasem Soleimani during a protest against the USA, in Peshawar, Pakistan
EPA
23/35
Protesters, holding a photograph of the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran Massoud Rajavi, outside Downing Street in London
PA
24/35
Protesters burn a US flag in Tehran
AP
25/35
A Syrian man offers sweets to children to mark the killing
AFP via Getty
26/35
Iranian worshippers attend a mourning prayer for Soleimani in Iran's capital Tehran
AFP via Getty
27/35
Kashmiri Shiite Muslims shout anti American and anti Israel slogans during a protest
AP
28/35
Iranian worshipers chant slogans during Friday prayers
Reuters
29/35
A protest against the USA, in Islamabad, Pakistan
EPA
30/35
Iranians burn a US flag in Tehran
EPA
31/35
Supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Germany (NWRI) protest outside Iran's embassy in Berlin, Germany
Reuters
32/35
Supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Germany (NWRI) protest outside Iran's embassy in Berlin
Reuters
33/35
Iranian worshippers in Tehran
AFP via Getty
34/35
Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol a road in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel. Following morning's killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani, Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement called for the missile strike by Israel's closest ally, to be avenged
AFP via Getty
35/35
Iranian women take to the streets in Tehran
EPA
1/35
This photo released by the Iraqi Prime Minister Press Office shows a burning vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike in Baghdad, Iraq, early Friday 3 January
AP
2/35
The wreckage of the car in which general Soleimani was travelling when a targeted US airstrike struck outside Baghdad International Airport on 3 January
Ahmad Al Mukhtar via Reuters
3/35
Demonstrators burn the US and British flags during a protest in Tehran after general Soleimani was killed in a targeted airstrike by American forces
Reuters
4/35
A burning vehicle at the Baghdad International Airport following an airstrike. The Pentagon said Thursday that the US military has killed general Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force, at the direction of Donald Trump
AP
5/35
Protesters burn Israeli and US flags as thousands of Iranians take to the streets to mourn the death of general Soleimani at the hands of America
EPA
6/35
Supporters of Donald Trump pray at an 'Evangelicals for Trump' campaign event held on the day following the killing of general Soleimani. At the event, the president praised the "flawless strike that eliminated the terrorist ringleader"
AFP via Getty
7/35
A huge procession of mourners gather in Baghdad for the funeral of general Soleimani on 4 January
AP
8/35
Thousands of Iranians take to the streets to mourn the death of Soleimani during an anti-US demonstration to condemn the killing of Soleimani, after Friday prayers in Tehran, Iran
EPA
9/35
Iraqis perform a mourning prayer for slain major general Qasem Soleimani of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards at the Great Mosque of Kufa
AFP via Getty
10/35
A billboard reading 'Death to America and Israel', installed by Iran-backed shiite armed groups at a street in Jadriyah district in Baghdad, Iraq
EPA
11/35
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei shows him visiting the family of Soleiman
KHAMENEI.IR/AFP via Getty
12/35
Thousands of Iranians take to the streets in Tehran
EPA
13/35
Pakistani Shiite Muslims burn a mock of a US flag as they hold pictures of General Qasem Soleimani during a protest against the USA, outside the US Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan
EPA
14/35
Iran's Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Jalal Feiruznia, looks to a portrait of Soleimani, as he receives condolences at the Iranian embassy, in Beirut, Lebanon
AP
15/35
People make their way on the street while a screen on the wall of a cinema shows a portrait Soleimani in Tehran
AP
16/35
Aziz Asmar, one of two Syrian painters who completed a mural following the killing of Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani poses next to his creation in the rebel-held Syrian town of Dana in the northwestern province of Idlib
AFP via Getty
17/35
A demonstration in Tehran
AFP via Getty
18/35
An anti-US demonstration to condemn the killing of Soleimani, after Friday prayers in Tehran
EPA
19/35
Mujtaba al-Husseini, the representative of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivers a speech in the holy shrine city of Najaf
AFP via Getty
20/35
Pakistani Shiite Muslims burn a mock of a US and Israeli flags as they hold pictures of General Qasem Soleimani during a protest against the USA, outside the US Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan
EPA
21/35
Protesters demonstrate in Tehran
AP
22/35
Pakistani Shi'ite Muslims hold pictures of General Qasem Soleimani during a protest against the USA, in Peshawar, Pakistan
EPA
23/35
Protesters, holding a photograph of the leader of the People's Mujahedin of Iran Massoud Rajavi, outside Downing Street in London
PA
24/35
Protesters burn a US flag in Tehran
AP
25/35
A Syrian man offers sweets to children to mark the killing
AFP via Getty
26/35
Iranian worshippers attend a mourning prayer for Soleimani in Iran's capital Tehran
AFP via Getty
27/35
Kashmiri Shiite Muslims shout anti American and anti Israel slogans during a protest
AP
28/35
Iranian worshipers chant slogans during Friday prayers
Reuters
29/35
A protest against the USA, in Islamabad, Pakistan
EPA
30/35
Iranians burn a US flag in Tehran
EPA
31/35
Supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Germany (NWRI) protest outside Iran's embassy in Berlin, Germany
Reuters
32/35
Supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Germany (NWRI) protest outside Iran's embassy in Berlin
Reuters
33/35
Iranian worshippers in Tehran
AFP via Getty
34/35
Vehicles of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) patrol a road in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel. Following morning's killing of Major General Qasem Soleimani, Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement called for the missile strike by Israel's closest ally, to be avenged
AFP via Getty
35/35
Iranian women take to the streets in Tehran
EPA
On Friday, Mr Trump claimed the US killed Soleimani “to stop a war” not start one. But he also warned Iran against retaliating over the targetted killing of its military leader.
“Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on American diplomats and military personnel but we caught him in the act and terminated him,” Mr Trump said. “We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war.”
Mr Trump said he had tremendous respect for the people of Iran and that the US was not seeking regime change.
However, he added: “The United States has the best military by far, anywhere in the world.
Mike Pompeo on Suleimani assassination: 'There was dancing in the streets in parts of Iraq'
“We have best intelligence in the world. If Americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets already fully identified, and I am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. And that, in particular, refers to Iran.”
Iran has responded by threatening revenge. On Friday, it told the UN Security Council and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, it reserved the right to self-defence under international law.
In a letter, Iranian UN ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi said the killing of Soleimani was “an obvious example of state terrorism and, as a criminal act, constitutes a gross violation of the fundamental principles of international law, including, the Charter of the United Nations”.
Mr Ravanchi later told CNN the killing of Soleimani amounted to a “military action”. He added: The response for a military action is a military action.”
The airstrike north of Baghdad is said to have taken place at 1.12am local time.
Reports said two of the three vehicles making up a militia convoy were found burned.
The development came as the US said it was was sending thousands more troops to the region as tensions soared in the wake of the targeted killing of Soleimani.
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