Response to injured soldiers
US attacks pro-Iranian militias in Iraq
December 26, 2023, 8:42 a.m
Three soldiers are injured in an attack on a US base in Iraq. The USA then bombed the facilities of pro-Iranian militias and at the same time warned of an escalation of the conflict in the region.
After an attack on a base in Iraq that left three US soldiers injured, the US attacked pro-Iranian militias in the country. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said US forces carried out “necessary and appropriate” attacks on three facilities used by the paramilitary Kataeb Hezbollah and militia-affiliated groups.
“These precision strikes are in response to a series of attacks against US soldiers in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-backed militias,” Austin said. He particularly referred to an attack on the air base in Erbil in the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq on Monday. According to US information, three US soldiers were injured, one of them seriously.
At the same time, the US Secretary of Defense warned of further attacks against US soldiers in the region. “We do not want to escalate the conflict in the region, but we are determined and ready to take further necessary measures to protect our people and facilities.”
Iraqi security sources said at least one member of a pro-Iranian group had been killed in attacks. 24 others were injured. An Interior Ministry official said the attacks targeted a Hashed al-Shaabi network site in the city of Hillah in Babylon province. Another attack took place in the southern province of Wassit.
More than 100 attacks registered
Since the war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas began on October 7, attacks on bases used by the US army in Iraq and Syria have increased sharply. The US military has recorded more than 100 such attacks since mid-October.
The attacks in Iraq were mostly claimed by the Islamic Resistance, a loose association of armed groups linked to the pro-Iranian Hashed al-Shaabi network. The Islamic Resistance condemns US support for Israel in the war against Hamas.
Around 2,500 US soldiers are stationed in Iraq and 900 in Syria. The US-led military coalition in these countries is intended to help prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist militia.