Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder confirmed on Thursday that a US strike in Iraq targeted Hajj Moshtaq Taleb Al-Saidi (Abou Taqwa), the assistant commander of the Baghdad Ring operations in Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), due to his involvement in operations targeting US occupation bases in the region.

"I can confirm that on January 4, approximately 12:00 p.m. Iraq time, US forces took necessary and proportionate action against Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, aka Abu Taqwa, who is a Harakat-al-Nujaba leader. Abu Taqwa was actively involved in planning and carrying out attacks against American personnel," Ryder said during a press briefing.

Read more: US claims responsibility for attack on Iraqi official in Baghdad

Earlier in the day, Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Iraq reported that Hajj Moshtaq Taleb Al-Saidi was martyred as a result of a US airstrike that targeted the headquarters of the PMF in eastern Baghdad. 

The aggression coincided with preparations for the anniversary celebrations of the Iraqi military. During the attack, a drone launched four rockets from a drone, three of which were launched simultaneously, while the fourth struck Al-Saidi's car. 

The Iraqi Presidency stated that the US aggression "constitutes a breach and violation of Iraq's sovereignty and security, a clear violation of the relations between Iraq and the international coalition, and a contradiction with the frameworks and justifications for which the coalition was established to provide assistance and advice to the Iraqi security forces."

On his part, the spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Yahya Rasoul Abdullah, held the international coalition responsible for the "unjustified attack" on the PMF headquarters.

$4.2B drawdown authority for Ukraine: unusable

Elsewhere in his comments, he said that the US Department of Defense holds approximately $4.2 billion in the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), but it remains unusable due to the complete exhaustion of replenishment funds authorized by Congress in 2023.

"We've got roughly $4.2 billion in restored PDA authority, but, again, the replenishment funds are expended," Ryder said during a press briefing.

Ryder clarified that the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) serves as an authorization to spend a designated amount, not a funding source. Consequently, the Pentagon still requires additional funding from Congress to support Ukraine within the confines of the replenished PDA.

In August, the US Department of Defense revealed the discovery of an extra $6.2 billion in PDA for Ukraine, stemming from an accounting error that overestimated the value of weapons and equipment from previous PDAs.

In December, efforts to secure new funding faced delays in Congress as Republicans opposed the Biden administration's $106 billion supplemental bill, which allocates over $60 billion for Ukraine. The impasse arose due to a lack of sufficient policy changes addressing the illegal immigration crisis on the US-Mexico border.

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