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03 January, 2020
By SJA Jafri + Agencies
BAGHDAD/ TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: General Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite al-Quds force and architect of its regional security apparatus, has been martyred following a US airstrike at Baghdad’s international airport on Friday.
The Pentagon confirmed the death of Soleimani in Iraq, saying strike was carried out at the direction of US President Donald Trump, and was aimed at deterring future attacks allegedly being planned by Iran.
Iraqi officials and the state television reported that aside from Soleimani, Iraqi Militia Commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also martyred in the pre-dawn strike.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as well as Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) umbrella grouping of Iran-backed militias, also confirmed the deaths of Soleimani and Muhandis.
Sources from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) earlier told Al Jazeera that the rockets destroyed two vehicles carrying “high-profile guests”, who had arrived at the Baghdad airport and were being escorted by militia members. Earlier reports said five other people were killed in the strike.
According to Al Jazeera’s Osama Bin Javaid, reporting from Baghdad, said the deaths are a major turning point in Iraq and the entire Middle East.
He said that the region has already been “on edge” since the US strike on PMF forces near Iraq’s border with Syria, and the attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday.
“This is a major blow on the relationship between the United States and the Iraqi government,” bin Javaid said. “It is a very precarious situation on which 
this significant development is taking place.”
US President Donald Trump posted an image of the American flag on social media following the news of Soleimani’s death.
Meanwhile, US Senator Chris Murphy, an opposition member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned that the incident could set off “a potential massive regional war”.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, former US Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb said “there is no doubt” that the US wanted to target Soleimani “for a while”.
In Tehran, Soleimani’s death sent shockwaves among residents, who were awake when the news was announced, according to Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari, who is reporting from the Iranian capital.
“With the news of his assassination, there is a tremendous amount of shock and anger that could follow, not only in Iran but across the Middle East,” she said.
“His name is synonymous to Iranian national pride, no matter how he has been labeled outside of the country,” Jabbari said, adding that hymns of mourning are being played on Iranian airwaves to mark Soleimani’s death.
Witnesses near Baghdad airport earlier told media that they heard sounds of sirens and helicopters in the air following the attack that killed Soleimani and Muhandis.
The area of the incident has been cordoned off, authorities told media, but 
the international airport remains in operation.
The incident took place near the base of the US-led coalition forces.
The attack occurred amid tensions with the US after an Iran-backed militia and other protesters breached the United States’ Embassy in Baghdad.
The attack at the embassy on New Year’s Eve was in response to a deadly US airstrike that killed 25 forces of the PMF, also known as the Hashd al-Shaabi group
