In response to Wednesday’s 18 rocket strikes on coalition military base Camp Taji that killed 2 Americans and 1 Briton, the US retaliated on Thursday by launching airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed militia group in Iraq.
While no group claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s rocket attack, the Pentagon held the Shia group responsible, saying that the US had “conducted defensive precision strikes” on the groups’ “facilities across Iraq”.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said, “You don't get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it.” The Pentagon added that the strikes were “defensive, proportional and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups”.
Tensions in the region have been especially high since 2019. Late last year, the Kirkuk military base sustained fire, resulting in the death of an American. In response, the US army struck five bases in Iraq and Syria used by the Kataib Hezbollah.
The situation reached a boiling point in early January after a US drone strike killed Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah's head, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. In the aftermath of the drone strike, Iran launched a ballistic missile attack on the Ain al-Assad and Irbil bases, both of which have US personnel.
The Pentagon has not yet released information on how many targets were killed. As of now, the Defense Department has merely said that the strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities.
Image Source: South China Morning Post