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USA, retaliatory attacks in Iraq

2023-12-26 07:56:14, Kosova & Bota CNA

President Joe Biden has ordered the US military to carry out retaliatory airstrikes against Iranian-backed militia groups after three US soldiers were wounded in a drone attack in northern Iraq.

National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said one of the soldiers was critically injured in the attack on Monday, December 25. The Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia and affiliated groups that are part of the Tehran-backed militant umbrella claimed responsibility for the drone attack.

Biden, who is spending Christmas at Camp David in Maryland, was informed of the attack by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Shortly after Monday's attack, the US president ordered the Pentagon and other national security advisers to prepare options for responding to the attack on an air base used by US troops in Erbil.

After senior defense officials and national security advisers consulted on options, hours later, Biden held a conversation with his national security team. Biden decided that the US military would attack three locations used by Kataib Hezbollah and its affiliated groups, said an official with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the AP reports.

The US airstrikes were carried out at 04:45 on Tuesday in Iraq, more than 13 hours after the attack on US personnel. According to US Central Command, retaliatory strikes at three locations "destroyed the targeted buildings and likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants."

"The president prioritized the protection of American personnel," spokeswoman Watson said. "The United States will act at the time and in the manner it chooses if such attacks continue."

The latest attack comes after months of escalating threats and actions against US troops in the region since Hamas - a Palestinian group designated a terrorist organization by the US - carried out attacks in Israel on October 7, fueling the devastating war in Gaza.

Since October 7, Iranian-backed militias have carried out dozens of attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria.

Last month, a US warplane struck a Kataib Hezbollah command center after US forces launched a ballistic missile attack on the Al-Assad base in western Iraq. Iran-backed militias carried out a drone attack on the same base in October.

The US has also blamed Iran, which finances and trains Hamas, for attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels against commercial and military ships in the Red Sea./ REL