The United States unleashed airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq on Tuesday after a weekend rebel attack on an Iraqi air base that wounded several American soldiers, officials said.
“Today, at the direction of President Biden, U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes against three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia and other Iranian-affiliated groups in Iraq,” the Defense Secretary said. , Lloyd Austin, in a statement.
“These precision strikes are a direct response to a series of escalating attacks against US and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” Austin added.
US Central Command said Tuesday’s strikes hit “Kataib Hezbollah headquarters, storage and training sites for rocket, missile and one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle capabilities.”
The retaliatory strike came after four US soldiers were examined for possible traumatic brain injuries on Saturday following a ballistic missile and rocket attack on Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, ABC News reported.
U.S. officials said they anticipated the possibility of additional troops advancing with TBI symptoms. An Iraqi military officer was also reported to have been injured in the explosion.
The United States carried out airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File
The base, which houses US and other international troops, was the target of 15 rocket attacks, with almost all of the missiles intercepted by the military, Iraqi police told AFP.
But two of the rockets hit the air base.
Austin warned that while the United States wants to prevent the war from spreading beyond the conflict between Israel and Hamas, it will not allow attacks on its troops and bases to go without consequences.
“The president and I will not hesitate to take whatever steps are necessary to defend them and our interests,” he said in his statement. “We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities.”
The United States has 2,500 troops in Iraq and another 900 stationed in Syria to advise local forces on how to quell any possible return of the Islamic State, which managed to seize large amounts of territory in both nations in 2014 before being finally defeated.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of Iran-backed militia groups that oppose U.S. support for Israel in the war against Hamas, claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
Since the war in Gaza began, Tehran’s militia forces have attacked the US military at least 59 times in Iraq and another 83 times in Syria, as revenge for US support for Israel.
The attacks come after a ballistic missile and rocket attack on Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq last week. AFP via Getty Images
The United States has also recently clashed with the Iran-backed Houthi terrorist group in Yemen and the Red Sea, with American and British soldiers launching a new round of airstrikes against them on Monday.
The bombings against Houthi rebel strongholds – including drone and missile sites and even an underground bunker – were the eighth US-led strikes against them in 11 days.
The goal of the missile strikes was to eliminate Houthi military supplies that could be used to attack commercial ships in the Red Sea, an initiative the US-designated terrorist group claims was in response to the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn