An Iranian general who served as the head of the country’s elite Quds Force was among seven people killed in a US missile attack at Baghdad Airport on Thursday, according to Iraqi television and officials in the country.

Gen. Qassem Soleimani perished in the attack, along with Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who worked as the deputy commander of Iran-backed militias operating in Iraq.

The militia, known as the Popular Mobilization Forces, criticized the US for the attack, which is expected to draw a swift response from Iran against Israel and American footholds in the Middle East.

At least three of the rockets hit the airport near a cargo terminal, igniting two cars, Reuters reported, citing the Iraq military-run Security Media Cell.

The rocket strike comes less than a month after four other rockets hit a military base near the airport that wounded six soldiers.

The area that was hit in that attack on Dec. 9 is usually filled with advisers from the US-led coalition in the region.

It also comes after hundreds of supporters of an Iranian-backed militia stormed the US Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday, forcing the evacuation of the ambassador and his staff.

That attack followed airstrikes Sunday that killed 25 fighters of the Kataeb Hezbollah that the US military said were in retaliation for Tuesday’s 36-rocket attack in which an American contractor was killed at an Iraqi base.

With Post wires