US launches airstrikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said two American F-15 warplanes — such as this one pictured in June 2020 — struck an Iran-linked weapons storage facility in Syria
Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – US military troops launched airstrikes against several locations utilized by Kataib Hezbollah and associated organizations in Iraq in retaliation for repeated assaults against coalition forces in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier in the day, coalition soldiers in Erbil, Iraq, were attacked by Kataib Hezbollah and allied militant factions, who are funded by Iran and caused injuries.
Preliminary examinations, according to US Central Command, show that these US attacks damaged the targeted facilities and probably killed several Kataib Hezbollah militants; no evidence suggests that civilian lives were lost. The United States military will keep assessing how successful these attacks were.
“These strikes are intended to hold accountable those elements directly responsible for attacks on coalition forces in Iraq and Syria and degrade their ability to continue attacks. We will always protect our forces,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, US Central Command Commander.
“Today, at POTUS direction, US military forces conducted necessary & proportionate strikes on three facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah & affiliated groups in Iraq,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin tweeted on X, previously Twitter.
“These pinpoint strikes are in reaction to a series of attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militias, including an attack on Erbil Air Base earlier today by Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah and allied groups,” added Austin.