U.S. strikes 3 facilities of Iranian-backed militia in Iraq
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – The U.S. carried out late on Tuesday airstrikes on facilities of an Iranian-backed militia in Iraq in response to an attack against American troops and base there.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement, “U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq.”
“These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” Austin added.
On Jan. 20, the U.S. officials said that American troops suffered injuries in a major rocket attack on the Ain al-Asad Airbase in Iraq. The base was targeted with multiple rockets hours after an Israeli airstrike killed five members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria.
Moreover, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) stated their forces conducted retaliatory airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah “headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missile, and one-way attack UAV capabilities.”
Iranian-backed militias intensified attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria after the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023. Since then, U.S. troops have been attacked about 150 times.