Iran Vows Payback for U.S. “precision defensive strikes” against five KH facilities in Iraq and Syria that killed 25
US Airstrikes on Iran-Backed Militia Kill 25
By VOA News
An Iran-backed militia threatened revenge Monday in response to U.S. airstrikes against its positions in Iraq and Syria, which killed at least 25 people.
The warning from Kataeb Hezbollah came as Iran’s foreign minister condemned the U.S. attacks as violating Iraqi sovereignty and amounting to an act of terrorism.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper confirmed the airstrikes in comments to reporters late Sunday. He said U.S. fighter jets hit three Kataeb Hezbollah targets in western Iraq and two others in eastern Syria.
Esper identified the targets as weapons storage and command and control facilities.
The airstrikes were carried out in response to a rocket attack Friday on an Iraqi military base in northern Iraq that killed a U.S. defense contractor.
Esper spoke from the Florida resort where President Donald Trump is spending a holiday break. Also there to brief the president was Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who said the Iraqi base hit Friday has seen multiple attacks.
“What we did was take a decisive response that makes clear what President Trump has said for months and months and months, which is that we will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy.
Kataeb Hezbollah is part of the state-sanctioned militias operating in Iraq know as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
RELEASE Statement From Assistant to the Secretary of Defense Jonathan Hoffman
In response to repeated Kata’ib Hizbollah (KH) attacks on Iraqi bases that host Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces, U.S. forces have conducted precision defensive strikes against five KH facilities in Iraq and Syria that will degrade KH’s ability to conduct future attacks against OIR coalition forces.
The five targets include three KH locations in Iraq and two in Syria. These locations included weapon storage facilities and command and control locations that KH uses to plan and execute attacks on OIR coalition forces.
Recent KH strikes included a 30-plus rocket attack on an Iraqi base near Kirkuk that resulted in the death of a U.S. citizen and injured four U.S. service members and two members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).
KH has a strong linkage with Iran’s Quds Force 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. 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.
It is important to note that KH attacks have also injured multiple members of the ISF. Secretary Esper and Prime Minister Mahdi have shared with each other their commitment to see these KH attacks on ISF and OIR forces cease once and for all.
Iran and their KH proxy forces must cease their attacks on U.S. and coalition forces, and respect Iraq’s sovereignty, to prevent additional defensive actions by U.S. forces.