Iraq: Iranian Prime Minister Qassem Soleimani was killed in a US-made air raid on his vehicle at Baghdad airport earlier this morning.

"The enemies of the United States and Israel are responsible for the death of General Qassem Soleimani and Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis," said Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesman of the Iraq General Mobilization Force (PMU), a militia group. backed by Iran, said. Soleimani is the commander of the Quds task force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC).

The Pentagon later confirmed that President Donald Trump "ordered the extermination" of Iranian generals and US troops to conduct airstrikes.

"General Soleimani has been actively involved in planning attacks on American diplomats and troops in Iraq as well as across the region. General Soleimani and his Quds Force are responsible for the deaths of hundreds. US soldiers and allies as well as thousands of other wounded, "the US Department of Defense today released a statement. "The air strikes were aimed at stopping future Iranian offensive plans."

Iraq's Hashing al-Shaabi military also said that the US was responsible for the attack. Some officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the targets had been determined.

After Soleimani's death, Trump posted Twitter and Facebook pictures of the American flag without any captions.

Soleimani is one of the most respected military leaders in Iran and one of the most mysterious and powerful people in the Middle East. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised Soleimani as a "living martyr" and played a key role in Iraq after Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003 in mobilizing militia and building Iranian influence. He has survived assassinations by Western, Israeli and Saudi agencies in the past two decades.

Seven rocket launchers were launched at Baghdad International Airport this morning. Four bullets hit an Iraqi army base, the rest scattered around the airport, causing two cars to explode and force the airport to close. Authorities announced the attack using Katyusha jet guns.

The attack comes amid tensions between Iran and the United States after thousands of protesters broke through the wall and stormed the US embassy in Baghdad to protest the US air strikes against three positions of pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollah. over Iraq and Syria over the weekend, 25 gunmen were killed and 51 injured. The two-day offensive prompted President Donald Trump to order the deployment of about 750 US troops to the Middle East.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Monday that the US military would respond to the violent action of "Iran-backed Shiite militia" in Iraq, including a December 27 rocket attack that caused an American. die. He also said that the Iraqi government did not fulfill its obligation to protect its American counterpart in the embassy attack.