Not only Iraqis, but the whole world was shocked by the assassination of the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, and his right-hand man, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was the deputy head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). This event, without a doubt, will change the map of conflict in the region.
The attack took place around 1 a.m. on Jan. 3 near the Baghdad International Airport. Soleimani had just arrived in Baghdad and had gotten into a vehicle, but his convoy was struck by drones before it had left the airport grounds. Soleimani, Muhandis and six other PMU figures were killed immediately.