Missile fired from US military base in Qatar killed Qassem Soleimani

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Missile fired from US military base in Qatar killed Qassem Soleimani

Thousands of Iranian hit streets to mourn Soleimani when his body arrived in Ahvaz for funeral

Sunday January 5, 2020 11:28 AM, ummid.com News Network

London: A drone launched from US military and air base in Qatar fired the missile that killed the head of the Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) elite Quds Force Qassem Soleimani, US military sources have revealed.

Soleimani, Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, and five others were killed in the strike at Baghdad airport early on Friday. They were hit by Hellfire R9X Ninja missiles launched by the MQ-9 Reaper drone sent from Al-Udeid military and air base in Qatar, Arab News reported citing UK media reports.

Two missiles were fired, one for each of the two vehicles carrying Soleimani and Al-Muhandis, and were controlled remotely by operators at the US Air Force base in Creech, Nevada. A second backup drone was also launched from US Central Command headquarters in Qatar, but was not needed.

The “near-silent” Reaper drone has a range of 1,850 km, can fly at a height of 15,000 meters, and is an “armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance” aircraft designed primarily for offensive strikes, according to the US Air Force. “It provides a unique capability to perform strike, coordination and reconnaissance against high-value, fleeting, and time-sensitive targets,” it said.

The killing of Iranian top commander has escalated tension in the region. Iran has vowed to avenge the killing which Washington said was ordered by US President Donald Trump.

Early in the morning on Sunday thousands of Iranian hit streets to mourn Soleimani when his body arrived in Ahvaz for funeral. Iranians are already protesting since Friday calling for "death for US" for what they called as the "assassination of one of their most loved military generals".

Soleimani was hailed in Iran for his military adventure in the Middle East, but he was responsible for killing thousands of people in Iraq and Syria - mostly Sunni Muslims.

President Donald Trump threatened to bomb 52 sites in the Islamic Republic if Tehran retaliates by attacking Americans. Trump's warning came after a series of rockets launched in Baghdad late Saturday fell inside or near the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, including the US Embassy.

"Iran is talking very boldly about targeting certain USA assets as revenge for our ridding the world of their terrorist leader who had just killed an American, & badly wounded many others, not to mention all of the people he had killed over his lifetime, including recently hundreds of Iranian protesters", Trump wrote on Twitter.

"He was already attacking our Embassy, and preparing for additional hits in other locations. Iran has been nothing but problems for many years", he added.

"Let this serve as a WARNING that if Iran strikes any Americans, or American assets, we have targeted 52 Iranian sites (representing the 52 American hostages taken by Iran many years ago), some at a very high level & important to Iran & the Iranian culture, and those targets, and Iran itself, WILL BE HIT VERY FAST AND VERY HARD. The USA wants no more threats!" he wrote.

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