US special forces troops posed as airport maintenance staff at Baghdad Airport to co-ordinate the air strike that assassinated Iran’s top commander, Qassem Suleimani, a report says.
They were joined on the ground by Kurdish special force soldiers and assisted by remote help from phone-tracking experts in Israel, it is claimed.
These leaked revelations, released in a new investigation on Saturday by Yahoo News, provide an insider account of the assassination on January 3 last year.
Three sniper teams of the US elite Delta Force disguised as airport workers waited to pinpoint the vehicle that would meet Suleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' foreign operations arm, the Quds Force.
Suleimani was arriving on a flight from the Syrian capital Damascus.
US special forces troops were 600 to 900 metres from the “kill zone” – the access road from the airport – which was set up to triangulate the general's position as he left the airport, the report said.
It is based on interviews with 15 current and former US officials.
Members of the Counter Terrorism Group, an elite Kurdish unit in northern Iraq, posed as baggage handlers and ground crew, and helped to identify the target, it is claimed.
A member of the group is said to have guided the aircraft to a halt on the tarmac while three US drones circled overhead, armed with Hellfire air-to-ground missiles.
The CTG denied any involvement in the operation. It said Suleimani was a "close friend" of late Kurdish politician Jalal Talabani, a former president of Iraq, and that Kurdish special forces once fought on the same frontlines with Suleimani against ISIS.
Suleimani's phones
The report said one US sniper had a spotting scope with a camera attached, which streamed live back to the US embassy in Baghdad, where the Delta Ground Force commander was based with support staff.
In Tel Aviv, it is claimed, US Joint Special Operations Command liaisons worked with Israelis to help track Suleimani’s mobile phone patterns.
The Israelis, who had access to Suleimani’s numbers, passed them to the Americans, who traced his phone to Baghdad, the report said.
Members of a secretive US Army unit known as Task Force Orange were also in Baghdad that night, according to a US military official.
It provided close-range signals intelligence experts for the tactical part of the operation.
The report said that as two vehicles moved into the kill zone, two Hellfire missiles hit Suleimani’s vehicle, obliterating it.
The driver of the second vehicle tried to escape but halted within 100 metres when shot at by a Delta Force sniper.
A third Hellfire missile then destroyed that vehicle, according to the report.
Suleimani was killed along with eight others, including the deputy head of Iraq's powerful Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitary force, Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis.
The report tackled the deliberations by the administration of former president Donald Trump over killing the Iranian general and other top Iranian officials and proxies.
Quoting a CIA official, the report claims that former secretary of state Mike Pompeo said: "Don’t worry about if it’s legal; that’s a question for the lawyers."
The assassination of Suleimani followed escalation between Iran-backed Iraqi militias and coalition forces in Iraq, including a US death in December 2019.
Iran responded to the killing with a barrage of missiles on the joint Iraqi-US airbase at Al Asad in western Iraq.
Up to 100 US soldiers suffered what is known as traumatic brain injury, caused by the shockwaves of the missiles.
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Day 3 stumps
New Zealand 153 & 249
Pakistan 227 & 37-0 (target 176)
Pakistan require another 139 runs with 10 wickets remaining
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
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It's up to you to go green
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Results
5pm: Reem Island – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Farasah, Antonio Fresu (jockey), Musabah Al Muhairi
5.30pm: Sir Baniyas Island – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: SSR Ghazwan, Antonio Fresu, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Astral Del Sol, Sean Kirrane, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami
6.30pm: Al Maryah Island – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Toumadher, Dane O’Neill, Jaber Bittar
7pm: Yas Island – Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: AF Mukhrej, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Saadiyat Island – Handicap (TB) Dh80,000 (T) 2,400m; Winner: Celestial Spheres, Gary Sanchez, Ismail Mohammed
