The United States has conducted airstrikes in Iraq as a response to attacks by Iran-backed militias targeting U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, including a wide-scale assault on an American base.
Multiple facilities in Iraq used by Iran-backed groups were targeted in the strikes, marking the third series of attacks by the Pentagon in three different countries within three days.
These strikes included operations against Al-Shabaab in Somalia, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, and now Iran-backed militias in Iraq.
In a statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated that the U.S. conducted airstrikes in Iraq targeting facilities used by Iran-backed militias on Tuesday following repeated attacks on U.S. forces.
Austin emphasized that the strikes “directly respond to a series of escalating attacks against U.S. personnel and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria” by Iran-backed militias.
The U.S. Central Command also issued a statement on Tuesday, stating that American forces “conducted unilateral air raids targeting Kataib Hezbollah headquarters, storage locations, and training facilities for missiles and drones.” These airstrikes were described as unidirectional.
Austin remarked on Tuesday, “I am grateful for the skill and professionalism our troops demonstrated in planning and executing these strikes and for the sustained efforts of our forces on the ground working with regional partners to further dismantle and weaken ISIS.”
These strikes come just days after American personnel at the Ain al-Asad airbase in Iraq were injured in a ballistic missile attack on the base. The U.S. Central Command reported over the weekend that while the airbase’s air defenses intercepted most of the rockets and artillery rounds, some projectiles hit their target.
U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted at least 151 times since the attacks began on October 17, according to a U.S. official, following Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.
