From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, January 24, 2024
Pentagon says US strikes in Iraq hit 3 sites linked to Iran-backed militias
WASHINGTON — The United States has carried out strikes in Iraq against three facilities linked to Iran-backed militia, the Pentagon says, after a weekend attack on an Iraqi air base that wounded US forces.
US troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked about 150 times by Iran-aligned militants since the Israel-Hamas war started in October.
On Saturday, four US personnel suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base was hit by multiple ballistic missiles and rockets fired by Iranian-backed militants from inside Iraq.
“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 says in a statement.
“These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against US and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” Austin adds.
