US Strikes Iran-Backed Militants in Iraq After Forces Wounded in Drone Attack

On Tuesday, the US attacked three facilities linked to Iran-backed militants after a weekend attack on an Iraqi air base that wounded US forces.

Iran-backed militants have assaulted US forces in Syria and Iraq over 150 times since the Israel-Gaza war began in October. The war has pressured President Biden to launch a military response despite political sensitivities in Baghdad.

US Strikes Iran-Backed Militants in Iraq

(Photo : AYMAN HENNA/AFP via Getty Images)
A picture taken on January 13, 2020 during a press tour organised by the US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, shows US soldiers clearing rubble at Ain al-Asad military airbase in the western Iraqi province of Anbar. - Iran last week launched a wave of missiles at the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, both hosting US and other foreign troops, in retaliation for the US killing top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad on January 3.

On Saturday, four US forces suffered from traumatic brain injuries after Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base was hit by multiple ballistic missiles and rockets fired by Iran-backed militants.

"US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq," US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.

Austin added that these precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against US and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed militants.

According to the US Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East, the strikes were directed against Kataib Hezbollah's headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missile, and drone capabilities.

Medical and militant sources in Iraq said that at least two militants were killed, and US strikes injured four other people.

Kataib Hezbollah military spokesperson Jaafar al-Husseini wrote on X, formerly Twitter that the group would continue to target enemy bases until the end of Israel's siege in Gaza. He specifically mentioned US support for Israel's campaign.

The assaults against the US were seen as retaliation for its support of Israel in its fight against Hamas. The war in Gaza has continued to escalate as US forces strike Houthi targets that have initiated attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

The US has 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria to support and advise local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which took control of large parts of both countries in 2014 before being defeated.

Iraq Condemns US Strikes

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office declared that steps were being taken to evict US forces after a US drone strike in Baghdad earlier this month that the government denounced. According to the Pentagon, the strike killed a militant leader who was behind the recent attacks on US personnel.

Sudani has limited control over some Iran-backed factions, whose support he needed to win power a year ago and who now make up a powerful bloc of his coalition.

The Pentagon claimed that US troops are deployed to Iraq at the request of the Baghdadi administration and that it has not received any notice of any plans to end the US forces' presence in the country.

Abo Alaa al-Walai, a militant commander, was sanctioned by the US last year for his role in attacks on US forces. He stated that Iraqi militants operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq should expand their operations by enforcing a blockade on Zionist maritime navigation in the Mediterranean Sea.