US military forces airstrike Iran-backed militia facilities in Iraq and Syria

The US has carried out airstrikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq and Syria, in response to drone attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq, the US Department of Defense said on Sunday.

In a statement, the Pentagon said, "At President Biden's direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq."

"Specifically, the US strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries. Several Iran-backed militia groups, including Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), used these facilities," the statement read.

'Efforts to defeat ISIS': Pentagon Press Secretary

In another statement, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby stated that US President Joe Biden will act to protect US personnel.
He said, "Given the ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq, the President directed further military action to disrupt and deter such attacks. We are in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq for the sole purpose of assisting the Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to defeat ISIS.The strikes were both necessary to address the threat and appropriately limited in scope." Kirby also informed that the US military targeted three operational and weapons storage facilities, two in Syria and one in Iraq.

“The United States took necessary, appropriate, and deliberate action designed to limit the risk of escalation — but also to send a clear and unambiguous deterrent message,” Kirby added. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement on Sunday that the U.S. airstrikes “appear to be a targeted and proportional response to a serious and specific threat." She added, “Protecting the military heroes who defend our freedoms is a sacred priority.”

Sunday’s strikes mark the second time the Biden administration has taken military action in the region. In February, the U.S. launched airstrikes against facilities in Syria, near the Iraqi border, that it said were used by Iranian-backed militia groups.

(With Agency Inputs)