The Republic of Iraq said on Friday that it has set in motion to expel the United States and the “international military coalition” it leads from its sovereign territory.

This decision comes in response to a recent unilateral airstrike conducted by the U.S. within Iraqi borders, an action that essentially constitutes a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and a breach of international law due to the absence of proper authorisation from the country’s legitimate authorities.

Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani, in response to the strike, announced on Friday that the government of the country is the only body “authorised to impose the law,” BreakThrough News reported.

Mr Shia al-Sudani said that the country’s position is “strong and principled” and that it will not compromise until it has “complete national sovereignty over the land and skies and waters of Iraq.”

“We affirm our strong and principled position on ending the existence of the international coalition after the reason for the existence has ended. We are in the process of setting the date to start a dialogue through the bilateral committee that was formed to determine the arrangement to end this presence.

“This is a commitment that the government will not retreat from. and will not compromise on anything needed to complete our national sovereignty over the land and skies and waters of Iraq,” the televised statement added.

The airstrike targeted and killed Abu Taqwa, a high-ranking commander of a local militia in central Baghdad amid a push by Iraqi officials for the exit of the U.S. from the country. It adds another layer of potential escalation intertwining with the widely condemned ongoing mass killings of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli military and its Washington backers. One other yet-to-be-identified person was killed in the attack and five were left wounded.

Mr Taqwa’s militia group, Harakat al-Nujaba, is part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Front (PMF) which fought for the liberation of parts of the country’s territory that were overrun by the Islamic State in 2014. The group’s active participation in the front’s nationalistic principles put it on Washington’s radar and the U.S. unilaterally designated it a terrorist group in 2019.

In a statement, the spokesperson of Iraq’s military, Yehia Rasool, said that Mr Taqwa and his group, operating on Iraqi soil, were acting within the ambit of the powers granted to it by the country. He said it was “an unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security body operating in accordance with the powers granted to it” by the country’s authorities.

The PMF had first announced the murder of Mr Taqwa describing it as an act of “brutal American aggression.”

In response, a U.S. defence official, speaking anonymously to Reuters, claimed that Mr Taqwa was targeted because he was “actively involved in attacks on U.S. personnel.” However, details about the extent of the late fighter’s involvement or whether his actions directly led to the death of any U.S. servicemen were not disclosed.

The official was also silent, notably, on the breach of the international legal process and the apparent disregard for the sovereignty of Iraq in the execution of Mr Taqwa without any legal filings. The absence of acknowledgment or commentary on these crucial aspects raises questions about the perceived justifiability of the action within the framework of international law.