Strikes on Iraqi capital kill 2 Iran-linked Kataeb Hezbollah members

Explosions rocked Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Saturday after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah, killing two members including a “key figure”, security sources said.The strikes are the first in the heart of Baghdad to kill Iran-backed fighters since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, which has not spared Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.“At 2.15am, a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah,” said a security source, adding that “a key figure was martyred”, and two members of the group were wounded.Journalists heard blasts in the capital followed by ambulance sirens, with witnesses saying they saw smoke rising from the Arasat neighbourhood, where several Iran-backed groups are known to be present.Shiite Muslims wave Iranian flags and hold portraits of late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, during the annual Jerusalem Day rally in Baghdad on Friday. Photo: APTwo hours later, an air strike hit a vehicle in eastern Baghdad that killed “a member of the Hashed al-Shaabi”, another security source said.