The United States has launched retaliatory strikes against an Iran-affiliated terrorist group in Iraq after said group attacked an American military base on Christmas morning.
The initial attack on the Ebril Air Base, located in northern Iraq, left three U.S. personnel wounded, according to the Department of Defense. U.S. officials determined it was carried out by militants belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, or “Battalions of the Party of God,” an Iraqi Shiite paramilitary terrorist group allied with Iran as well as the Lebanon-based Hezbollah. According to Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III, one of the three U.S. service members is in critical condition.
Commander-in-chief Joe Biden called in the strikes following a briefing with Austin and National Security officials. The three locations attacked by the U.S. belonged to Kataib Hezbollah and other militants, who primarily used them to facilitate “unmanned aerial drone activities” according to National Security spokesperson Adrienne Watson.
Biden orders strike on Iranian-aligned group after 3 US troops injured in drone attack in Iraq https://t.co/Jkqd46mOr4
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 26, 2023
The U.S. carried out the strikes at 8:45 PM EST on Monday, and multiple Kataib Hezbollah members are thought to have been killed. No civilians were present at the targeted locations.
President Biden “places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm’s way. The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue,” Watson’s statement added.
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The Islamic Resistance, an Iraq-based confederation of militant groups which are allied with a collective of former paramilitary armed forces that have now been absorbed into Iraq’s official military, claimed credit for the drone attack. The Iraqi government condemned Biden’s strikes as “hostile acts” in its territories, framing it as an “unacceptable attack on Iraqi sovereignty” that will “harm bilateral relations,” even after the U.S. attributed the attacks to Iran’s network of terrorism. Iraqi officials allege that the U.S. killed one member of the Iraqi security forces and wounded 18 others, including civilians.
U.S. officials purport to have recorded 103 attacks by Iranian militias against American personnel in Iraq and Syria since mid-October.
(RELATED: US Forces in Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq Hit with Multiple Airstrikes)
Defense Secretary Austin described these latest strikes as “necessary and proportionate” acts of retribution designed to “disrupt and degrade” Iranian-backed forces. “While we do not seek to escalate [the] conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities,” Austin wrote.
Today, at @POTUS’ direction, U.S. military forces conducted necessary & proportionate strikes on 3 facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah & affiliated groups in Iraq. These precision strikes are a response to a series of attacks against U.S. personnel in Iraq & Syria by…
— Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III (@SecDef) December 26, 2023
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