Shia militia likely to blame for killing US troops in Iraq: US general

Shia militia groups in Iraq were likely responsible for the attack on Wednesday that killed one British and two American troops at a base north of Baghdad, a top U.S. general said on Thursday, in remarks that leave the door open to potential escalation with Tehran.

U.S. Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, the head of Central Command, did not blame any specific militia but noted that only Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah had been known to wage such an attack in the past. Washington blamed that militia for a strike in December that killed a U.S. contractor.

"While we are still investigating the attack, I will note that the Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah is the only group known to have previously conducted an indirect fire attack of this scale against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq," McKenzie told a U.S. Senate hearing.