US attacks three locations in Iraq linked to militias accused of base attack
The United States on Tuesday carried out military strikes on three facilities in western Iraq linked to Iranian-affiliated militias. US officials attacked a major base in Iraq on Saturday, wounding at least four US service members, according to the Pentagon's Central Command.
US strikes near Iraq's border with Syria on Tuesday hit headquarters, training sites and warehouses for missiles, rockets and drones of the Kataib Hezbollah militia and other Iran-linked groups in Iraq, the Central Command said.
“These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalating attacks on U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement.
The attack on Iraq's Al Asad air base on Saturday was the latest and most serious of about 151 such rocket attacks targeting US forces in Iraq and Syria since Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
At least ten missiles and seven short-range ballistic missiles were fired in a single barrage on the base, with two missiles passing through Patriot and air defense systems, the most successful attack the militias had carried out to date. At least four U.S. service members were treated for traumatic brain injuries but all have since returned to duty, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Saturday's attack underscored how the region is embroiled in a broader conflict. In another spillover from the war in Gaza, the United States and Britain on Monday carried out large-scale military strikes on eight locations in Yemen controlled by Houthi militants.
These strikes signaled that the Biden administration plans to wage a sustained and, at least for now, open-ended campaign against the Houthis, the Iran-backed group that has disrupted traffic on vital international shipping lanes.
Iran-linked militias in Iraq, known collectively as the Axis of Resistance and which consider themselves part of Iran's network of allies in the Middle East, claimed in a statement on Saturday that last weekend's attack was in response to Israel's war in Gaza. .
Al Asad air base, in Iraq's western desert, is now mainly used by Iraqi forces but still has a US contingent. In total, there are 2,500 U.S. troops in Iraq and 900 in northeastern Syria, helping to support Iraq and Kurdish-Syrian forces in the fight to quell the remnants of Islamic State.
At least 83 U.S. personnel have suffered injuries in militia attacks in Syria and Iraq, including traumatic brain injuries. All but a few troops returned to work relatively quickly, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.
Mr. Austin said in his statement that he and President Biden “will not hesitate to take the necessary action to defend U.S. forces in the region.” “We do not seek to escalate the conflict in the region,” he said. “We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities.”