The US military carried out airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against the Kataib Hezbollah (KH) militia group in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, US officials said on Sunday.
Iraqi security and militia sources said that at least 25 militia fighters were killed and at least 55 wounded following three US airstrikes in Iraq on Sunday.
At least four local Kataib Hezbollah commanders were among the dead, the sources said, adding that one of the strikes had targeted the militia group’s headquarters near the western Qaim district on the border with Syria.
Photo: Reuters
The Pentagon said it had targeted three locations of the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militia group in Iraq and two in Syria.
The locations included weapons storage facilities, and command and control locations the group had used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces, it said.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strikes were carried out by F-15 jets.
The US had accused Kataib Hezbollah of carrying out a strike on Friday involving more than 30 rockets, which killed the US civilian contractor, and injured four US service members and two members of the Iraqi Security Forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
“In response to repeated Kataib Hezbollah attacks on Iraqi bases that host Operation Inherent Resolve [OIR] coalition forces, US forces have conducted precision defensive strikes ... that will degrade KH’s ability to conduct future attacks against OIR coalition forces” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iranian-backed forces for a series of attacks on bases in Iraq and warned Iran that any attacks by Tehran or proxies that harmed Americans or allies would be “answered with a decisive US response.”
US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said that the strikes were successful and that officials discussed other options with Trump.
“We discussed with him [Trump] other options that are available,” Esper said. “And I would note also that we will take additional actions as necessary to ensure that we act in our own self-defense and we deter further bad behavior from militia groups or from Iran.”
Additional reporting by AFP
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