The United States carried out “defensive strikes” against terror group Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, after an American civilian contractor was killed in an attack on an Iraqi military base, the Pentagon said.
At least 18 militia fighters — including four local Kata’ib Hezbollah commanders — were killed and more than 50 injured following three air strikes in Iraq, sources told Reuters.
Targets in five locations overall, three in Iraq and two in Syria, were destroyed by F-15 fighter jets, including weapons-storage facilities and command-and-control locations that the Iran-backed militant organization used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces, the Pentagon and officials said.
The US has accused Kata’ib Hezbollah of being behind the rocket attack on an Iraqi base Friday that killed an American citizen and wounded four US service members, as well as two members of the Iraqi Security Forces.
Kataib Hezbollah bases struck by US forces, in Al-Qa’im, Iraq, according to the US military.via REUTERSThe base, near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, about 150 miles north of Baghdad, is run by the Iraqi military but hosts coalition forces fighting against ISIS in US forces’ Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR).
On Sunday, Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Jonathan Hoffman said Kata’ib Hezbollah has “a strong linkage” to Iran’s military and “has repeatedly received lethal aid and other support from Iran that it has used to attack OIR coalition forces.”
“The OIR coalition is in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government to ensure the lasting defeat of ISIS and provide advice and assistance to the ISF,” Hoffman said in a statement.
“The U.S. and its coalition partners fully respect Iraqi sovereignty, and support a strong and independent Iraq. The U.S., however, will not be deterred from exercising its right of self-defense,” he said.
OIR forces were responsible for carrying out the raid that killed ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi this past October, CNN reported at the time.
Kata’ib Hezbollah is an anti-American Iraqi-Shia military group that is primarily supported by Iran and was deemed a foreign terrorist organization by the US in 2009.
Members of the group pledge allegiance to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and have been held responsible for numerous IED bombings against US and Iraqi forces.
Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iranian-backed forces for a series of attacks on bases in Iraq, and warned Iran that any attacks that harmed Americans or allies would be “answered with a decisive US response.”
With Wires
