Edited by Deepali Verma
The United States recently carried out strikes in Iraq against three facilities that had links to the Iran-backed militia on January 23, said the Pentagon, after a weekend attack on an Iraqi air base that wounded U.S. forces.
US troops in Iraq and Syria have faced attacks close to 150 times by Iran-aligned militants eversince the Israel-Gaza war commenced in October.
Four US personnel had to suffer traumatic brain injuries after Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base was attacked by multiple ballistic missiles and rockets launched by Iranian-backed militants from inside Iraq.
“U.S. military forces hold the responsibility for conducting necessary and proportionate strikes on the three facilities that were in use by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s statement read.
“The employment of precision strikes came as a response to a series of escalatory attacks for the U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” told Austin in addition.
The United States is facing these attacks as retaliation for its support of Israel in its war against Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas. The war in Gaza is further spreading as the U.S. forces continue hitting Houthi targets who have launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
The U.S. has stationed close to 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq, advising and assisting local forces to stop a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 managed to seize large parts of both countries before being defeated.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office made an announcement to evict U.S. forces after a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in the starting of January that was condemned by the government. The Pentagon said that the strike was responsible for killing a militia leader responsible for recent attacks on U.S. personnel.
Sudani exercises limited control over some Iran-backed factions, whose support was crucial to him for winning power a year ago and who now form a strong bloc in his governing coalition.
The Pentagon revealed that it has not received any formal notification of any plans to end the U.S. troop presence in the country, and says its troop deployment to Iraq at the invitation of the government in Baghdad.
