NNA -nbsp;The United States carried out strikes in Iraq against three facilities linked to Iran-backed militia on Tuesday, the Pentagon said, after a weekend attack on an Iraqi air base that wounded U.S. forces.
U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria have been attacked about 150 times by Iran-aligned militants since the Israel-Gaza war started in October, creating pressure on President Joe Biden to respond militarily, despite political sensitivities in Baghdad.
On Saturday, four U.S. personnel suffered traumatic brain injuries after Iraq#39;s Ain al-Asad air base was hit by multiple ballistic missiles and rockets fired by Iranian-backed militants from inside Iraq.
quot;U.S. 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,quot; U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
quot;These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,quot; Austin added.
U.S. Central Command, which carries out operations in the Middle East, said the strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah quot;headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missilequot; and drone capabilities.
In Iraq, a medical source and a militant source said the U.S. strikes killed at least two militants and that four other people were wounded.
Kataib Hezbollah military spokesperson Jaafar al-Husseini said in a post on X that the group would continue to target quot;enemy basesquot; until the end of Israel#39;s seige in Gaza and singled out U.S. support for Israel#39;s campaign.
The attacks against the United States are seen as retaliation for its support of Israel in its war against Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas. The war in Gaza has been spreading, with U.S. forces hitting Houthi targets who have launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea.–Reutersnbsp;
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