U.S. reportedly strikes pro-Iran convoy in Iraq ahead of funeral for Soleimani

BAGHDAD – A fresh airstrike hit pro-Iran fighters in Iraq early Saturday, as fears grew of a proxy war erupting between Washington and Tehran a day after an American drone strike killed a top Iranian general. The killing of Quds Force commander Gen. Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad on Friday was the most dramatic escalation yet in spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States, which pledged to send more troops to the region -- even as President Donald Trump insisted he did not want war. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Majid Takht Ravanchi, told CNN that the killing was an "act of war on the part of the United States." A new strike on Saturday targeted a convoy belonging to the Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iraqi paramilitary network dominated by Shiite factions with close ties to Iran. The Hashed did not say who it held responsible but Iraqi state television reported it was a U.S. airstrike.