“At the direction of the president, the US military has taken decisive defensive action to protect US personnel abroad by killing” Soleimani, the department said. “General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq and throughout the region.”
(Jan 3): A US airstrike in Iraq ordered by President Donald Trump killed one of Iran’s most powerful generals in a provocation that risks escalating a growing conflict with the Islamic Republic.
Qassem Soleimani, who led proxy militias that extended the Islamic Republic’s power across the Middle East, was killed in a strike in Baghdad authorised by Trump, the Defense Department said in a statement late Thursday night.
