US says Kataeb Hezbollah members killed in reprisal strikes after soldier critically hurt

The US military says it killed a number of Kataeb Hezbollah fighters in retaliatory strikes and destroyed targeted facilities used by the group in Iraq after three US service members were injured in a drone attack, the US Central Command says.

One of the three service members sustained critical injuries in the attack in northern Iraq, National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson says of the attack.

US President Joe Biden was briefed on the drone attack by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and opted to target three locations used by Kataeb Hezbollah and affiliated groups, according to an anonymous US official.

“The President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm’s way,” Watson says of the US response. “The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue.”

The Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group has carried out dozens of attacks and attempted attacks against US troops since the outbreak of Israel’s war with Hamas. Soldiers have suffered minor brain trauma in previous incidents.

The group said earlier this month that attacks would continue until the last American soldier leaves Iraq.