Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced on Monday that the U.S. military had attacked three bases used by Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, after three U.S. service members were injured in an attack earlier in the day.
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Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, the US government has responded to dozens of attacks on US and allied forces in the region, targeting strongholds used by Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Syria. has been repeatedly targeted.
“U.S. forces conducted necessary and proportionate attacks against three facilities used by Kataeb Hezbollah and its affiliates in Iraq,” Austin said in a statement.
“These precision strikes are in response to a series of attacks by Iranian-backed militias against U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Syria, including an attack by Iranian-backed Kataeb Hezbollah and its affiliates on Erbil Air Base earlier today.” he said.
National Security Council spokesman Adrian Watson said in a statement that three U.S. military personnel were injured, one critically, in the attack.
President Joe Biden was briefed on the unidirectional strike drone strike, ordered the Pentagon to prepare a response, and ordered the strike in a phone call with Austin and other national security officials, according to the statement. did.
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Biden said, “We have no higher priority than protecting American soldiers who are in harm’s way. If these attacks continue, the United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing.” will,” the statement added.
The drone attack was claimed by Iraq’s Islamic Resistance Forces. The resistance is a loosely armed group affiliated with the Hashd al-Shaabi coalition, a former paramilitary group that is now integrated into Iraq’s regular army.
Since Oct. 17, there have been 103 attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria, most of them opposed to U.S. support for Israel in its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to a tally by U.S. military officials. It was carried out by Islamic resistance forces in Iraq.
The latest round of the conflict between Israel and Hamas began on October 7 when Palestinian militants carried out a shocking attack across the border from Gaza, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures. Approximately 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
After the attack, the United States rushed military aid to Israel, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry. Israel has waged a relentless military campaign in Gaza, killing at least 20,670 people, most of them civilians.
These deaths sparked widespread anger in the Middle East and triggered attacks on U.S. forces by forces opposed to the presence of U.S. troops in the region.
Approximately 2,500 U.S. troops are stationed in Iraq and 900 in Syria as part of efforts to prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State extremist group.
The militants once held significant territory in both countries but were pushed back by local ground forces, supported by international airstrikes, during years of bloody conflict.
(AFP)