The United States conducted a new round of airstrikes early on Tuesday in Iraq, most likely killing militants and destroying three facilities used by Iranian proxies that had been targeting American and coalition troops, US officials said, Report informs, citing The New York Times.
The American strikes were in retaliation for a series of assaults, including a drone attack hours earlier by members of Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups on Erbil air base in Iraq, according to Adrienne Watson, a National Security Council spokeswoman. The drone attack injured three American service members, one of them critically, she said.
“My prayers are with the brave Americans who were injured,” Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement.
The latest strikes targeted facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah, a militia group in Iraq that is considered a proxy of Iran. The United States blames Iran and the militias aligned with it for what has become a near-daily barrage of rocket and drone attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria. The Biden administration has sought to calibrate retaliatory airstrikes to ultimately deter such groups while avoiding a wider war.
After Mr. Biden was informed of the Erbil attack on Christmas morning, he ordered the Defense Department to prepare response options, White House officials said.
Later in the day, the president authorized strikes that were conducted around 8:45 p.m. Eastern time.