The United States launched a strike on Iranian-backed forces in Iraq, marking its first operation in the country since February.
According to Iraqi officials, U.S. fighter jets struck several Iranian-aligned militia groups in Babil province, south of Baghdad, on Tuesday.
The strike killed four members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which includes several Iran-backed armed militias, and injured four others.
PMF denounced the attack and called on Iraq to “unite efforts to make an immediate decision for the expulsion of foreign forces from our country.”
U.S. officials told Reuters that American forces carried out this attack in response to a drone threat that posed a risk to U.S. and coalition forces from these militias.
Yehia Rasool, a spokesman for Iraq’s armed forces commander, condemned the strike as a “reckless and irresponsible aggressive act.”
“Such serious and uncalculated transgressions can significantly undermine all efforts, mechanisms, and frameworks of joint security work to combat ISIS in Iraq and Syria,” Rasool said in a post on X.
“They also risk dragging Iraq and the entire region into dangerous conflicts and wars. Therefore, we hold the coalition forces fully responsible for these consequences following this flagrant aggression.”
Despite extensive efforts through political and diplomatic channels, as well as the efforts of the higher military commission, which have reached advanced stages in the efforts of ending the presence and operations of the Global Coalition against Daesh in Iraq and transitioning… https://t.co/mKteduOdjw
— المكتب الإعلامي لرئيس الوزراء
(@IraqiPMO) July 31, 2024
Last week, Iranian-backed militias targeted U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria for the first time since early February.
Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed these two attacks were unsuccessful and caused no injuries.
“We certainly condemn the attack by an Iran-aligned militia group against U.S. forces in Syria,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said after last week’s attack.
“We’ve seen these attacks, obviously, in the past. We have made quite clear to Iran, we’ve made quite clear to Iran’s proxy groups that we will defend our interests, we will defend our personnel, and that continues to be the case.”
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack in Israel, these Iranian-aligned militias have targeted U.S. troops at least 170 times.
In January, militias killed three U.S. troops at a small base in Jordan, prompting the United States to respond with a strike in February.
Moreover, the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen have persistently attacked ships in the Red Sea.
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According to Reuters, Iraqi officials are seeking the withdrawal of the roughly 2,500 U.S. troops fighting terrorism by September and aim to end the coalition by next year.
This latest U.S. strike coincided with Israel killing top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and another strike in Iran that killed top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
