ALBAWABA- The Houthi group has confirmed the death of Colonel Hussein Abdullah Mastour Al-Sha'bal, also known as Abu Jihad, a senior military leader involved in Iranian Axis operations.
Photographs of Mastour alongside Lebanese Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukr and Iraqi Hezbollah leader Abu Hassan al-Maliki were circulated, indicating their deaths on the same night during an Israeli airstrike on southern Beirut.
According to Osama Sari, a media figure close to the group's leadership, Colonel Mastour was "martyred in a significant battle" referred to as the "Battle of the Promised Victory and Holy Jihad." This term has been used by the Houthis to describe their operations in collaboration with Iran's allies since October 7, purportedly in support of Gaza.
Further details were provided by the Iranian Tasnim News Agency, which reported that Mastour was killed in a U.S. airstrike on Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad, on Tuesday.
The strike targeted multiple sites, including a factory and testing center for advanced drones, reportedly staffed by Iranian engineers affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards.
Jarf al-Sakhar “the rocky cave” is known to host camps for various groups, including the "Kata'ib Hezbollah" in Iraq. An Iraqi official informed the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that the airstrikes specifically targeted battalion sites.
Iraqi police reported that the strike resulted in four deaths and four injuries among the Popular Mobilization Forces. However, medical and field sources indicated that the death toll was seven, without disclosing the victims' nationalities.
In May, the Houthi leader announced a coordination initiative with the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq." Later that month, Iranian-aligned media reported a phone call between Ahmed Mohsen Faraj al-Humaidawi (Abu Hussein), leader of the Iraqi "Kata'ib Hezbollah," and the Houthi leader, discussing "high-level coordination among the Axis forces, especially between Iraq and Yemen."
Notably, Houthis have recently claimed responsibility for several attacks, purportedly carried out in coordination with the "Iraqi Resistance."
