The United States has carried out airstrikes in Iraq targeting facilities used by “Iranian-backed militias” in the country following repeated attacks on US forces, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement on Tuesday (local time). The strikes targeted three facilities used by Iranian-backed ‘Kataib Hezbollah’ and other Tehran-affiliated groups in Iraq. Austin said that the strikes “are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against US and coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria” by Iranian-backed militia groups. “We’ve continued to see attacks on our forces since October 17 in Iraq and Syria. While the attacks in Iraq and Syria have been ongoing, the US has also been managing regular attacks by the Houthis in Yemen on commercial shipping.
