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BAGHDAD (Reuters) – The Iraqi government condemned on Tuesday a “clearly hostile act” after US strikes carried out overnight in Iraq in retaliation for a drone attack launched by militiamen allied to Iran.
The Iraqi government described these attacks as an “unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty”, specifying that they had left one dead and 18 injured.
The United States carried out airstrikes in retaliation for a drone attack launched Monday by Iranian-allied militiamen that injured three American soldiers, one seriously, U.S. officials said.
These strikes, carried out on the orders of President Joe Biden, likely killed “a number of fighters” from the pro-Iranian militia Kataib Hezbollah and destroyed several buildings it used, they said.
The US Army Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement that the strikes targeted those directly responsible for attacks against coalition troops in Iraq and Syria.
Since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip, tensions have increased in the region, with repeated attacks against bases in Iraq and Syria housing American troops. The United States responded several times with airstrikes.
(Reporting by Ahmed Elimaml and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad, with Phil Stewart in Washington; French version Jean Terzian and Zhifan Liu, editing by Tangi Salaün)
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