ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on Wednesday announced that its forces had struck facilities of Iran-affiliated militias in Iraq, mainly Kataib Hezbollah, in retaliation for the groups’ ongoing attacks targeting American personnel in the country. At least one militiaman was killed in the airstrikes.
The unilateral airstrikes, carried out at around 12:15 am, were in response to a missile strike from pro-Iran militias on Saturday, which targeted al-Assad Airbase, housing US-led coalition troops in Iraq’s western Anbar province, and injured at least one Iraqi service member and a number of US personnel.
Wednesday’s retaliatory attacks struck three facilities of the Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-backed groups in Iraq. According to a statement from CENTCOM, the strikes targeted the groups’ “headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missile, and one-way attack UAV capabilities.”
The state-linked Popular Mobilization Forces’ (PMF) al-Jazeera Operations Command announced later that one of its bases in Anbar’s Qaim district was struck in the American attack, confirming that at least one of its fighters were killed and two others were wounded.
The group also reported that a PMF training facility in northern Babil province’s Jurf al-Nasr (formerly Jurf al-Sakhar) was targeted by the US forces as well.
Yehia Rasool, military spokesperson to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, described the US’ Wednesday strikes as “unacceptable” and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, calling on the international community to prevent the aggressions that threaten the country’s stability.
The attacks also obstruct the process of reaching an understanding with the global coalition regarding their future role in Iraq, Rasool added. The Iraqi government has recently expressed its intention to end the presence of all foreign forces in the country, following several American retaliatory strikes against state-linked armed groups.
The American strikes were condemned by Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji, who called on Washington to exert pressure to bring an end to the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip “instead of targeting and bombing headquarters of an Iraqi national institution.”
“Targeting the PMF headquarters in Qaim and Jurf al-Sakhar is an assault and a blatant violation of Iraqi sovereignty and does not help calm the situation,” wrote Araji on X, formerly Twitter.
Iran-aligned militias have struck bases of the international coalition in Iraq and Syria with rockets and drones over 100 times since October 17, against the backdrop of Washington’s support for Israel in its war on the Gaza Strip.
US forces have responded with several retaliatory strikes, targeting militia groups they blame for the attacks. The Iraqi government has strongly condemned American retaliatory attacks, which have killed at least 11, calling them a “violation” of its sovereignty as it targets state security forces.
Thousands of foreign military personnel are stationed in Iraq as part of the international coalition which has assisted Kurdish and Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) and has continued to provide training and advice to the armed groups since the militant group’s territorial defeat in 2017.
