U.S. Special Operations forces were only a few hundred yards behind Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) commander Qassem Soleimani last week when an American Reaper drone shot a hellfire missile at his vehicle, killing him, as he and others left Baghdad International Airport.
The Army Special Operations soldiers arrived on scene moments after the drone strike eliminated one of the world’s most notorious terrorists to collect a “bomb damage assessment.”
Soleimani’s body was on fire, grossly disfigured, and missing limbs, according to Leland Vittert of Fox News.
“The source told Fox News that U.S. forces dragged Soleimani’s body away from the scene and extinguished the fire before formally identifying the Iranian general,” Fox News reported. “They took photos of his possessions, which included books of poetry and wads of cash. He was also carrying a pistol and an assault rifle.”
“Under normal circumstances, Soleimani’s phone and other electronics would be taken away for forensic analysis. However, the missile strike and ensuing fire made such an investigation impossible,” Fox News added.
A source who saw the photos and who served in Iraq told Fox News that Soleimani died the same way that many U.S. soldiers died in Iraq who were killed by IEDs that came from Soleimani.
WATCH:
The U.S. State Department released the following fact sheet on Soleimani following his death:
- Since 1998, Qassem Soleimani commanded Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Qods Force (IRGC-QF), the terror arm of the Iranian regime. The IRGC-QF is tasked with planning and executing terror and military operations outside Iran’s borders. Under Soleimani’s command, the IRGC-QF has fueled destabilizing sectarian conflicts throughout the Middle East for decades.
- The IRGC-QF continues to wage an illegal campaign of terrorism, assassinations, and violence. At Soleimani’s direction and with his oversight and guidance, the IRGC-QF has planned and conducted terrorist attacks across six continents and inside the United States.
- The United States designated IRGC-QF a Foreign Terrorist Organization for its activities, and the United States designated Soleimani as a Specially-Designated Global Terrorist.
- As the leader of the IRGC-QF, Qassem Soleimani was directly responsible for arming, funding, and training proxy groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, Yemen, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Operations carried out by these proxy groups have led to the death and suffering of tens of thousands, including many hundreds of Americans. These proxies routinely target and kill civilians, intensify sectarian conflicts, and prolong the suffering of innocent men, women, and children.
- Soleimani personally directed and provided arms to militias in Iraq for more than a decade. These militias undermine the sovereignty of the Iraqi state, threaten the legitimacy of Iraq’s security forces, and target American citizens and forces. With Soleimani’s support and lethal assistance, proxies of the IRGC-QF targeted and killed over 600 Americans between 2003 and 2011.
- We can confirm that in the past several days, General Soleimani had been traveling in the Middle East coordinating further imminent large-scale attacks against U.S. diplomats and service members. These threats were highly credible and the intelligence is sound. General Soleimani’s travel also violated the ban imposed by the United Nations Security Council.
- Recent orders given by General Soleimani dramatically escalated Iran’s campaign of violence and terrorism against Americans and American interests in the Middle East. He orchestrated a series of attacks against American forces in Iraq in the past several months, culminating in the rocket attack on December 27, 2019, which resulted in the death of an American citizen, wounded four American service members, and threatened the lives of many more American personnel. General Soleimani also ordered the assault on the American Embassy in Baghdad. General Soleimani continued to command Iranian supported proxies in Iraq, which posed an escalating threat to the lives of Americans.
- For his actions, Soleimani had been designated and sanctioned by the United Nations, European Union, and United States and is banned from international travel by United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231. In defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, however, Soleimani continued to travel to Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon directing and coordinating lethal actions that pose a threat to regional peace and security.
- Some key international and United States designations of Soleimani include:
- Designated a Tier I terrorist as part of the Department of State designation of the IRGC as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2019.
- Designated under U.S. Executive Order 13224 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2011.
- Designated under U.S. EO 13572 for human rights abuses in 2011.
- Designated under U.S. EO 13882 for providing material support to terrorists in 2007.
- Sanctioned by the United Nations under UNSCR 1747 for involvement in Iran’s nuclear program in 2007.
- Designated by the European Union in EU 442/2011 for support to the Syrian regime in 2011.