An airstrike ordered by the U.S. President Donald Trump killed General Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force of the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the early hours of Friday. The attack on Baghdad airport also killed deputy head of the Popular Mobilisation Units (Hashd al-Shaabi), Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

The U.S. military will send about 3,500 additional soldiers to the Middle East following the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani less than a day earlier, NBC News reported Friday, citing three U.S. defense officials and one U.S. military official.

Some of the troops will be based in Iraq, and others will arrive in Kuwait and other parts of the region, according to the U.S. media.

They are ordered to serve as a response to threats throughout the region in the wake of Soleimani’s death.

The Pentagon confirmed US forces had killed the general, saying the 62-year-old had "orchestrated" attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the past few months and approved the "attacks" on the US Embassy in Baghdad earlier this week.

"This strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans," the Pentagon said in a statement, adding that the US would continue to take necessary action to protect Americans and interests around the world.

The US embassy in Baghdad has urged American citizens to depart Iraq immediately "via airline while possible, and failing that, to other countries via land".

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