US Launches Strikes, Taking Direct Aim At Iranian Proxies In Iraq

After weeks of drone and rocket attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria, the United States carried out a series of strikes in Iraq against Iranian-backed militants.

Until this week, the United States had been reluctant to retaliate in Iraq because of the delicate political situation there. It retaliated only in Syria launching three strikes in October and November.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has limited control over the Iranian-backed militias, whose support he needed to win power a year ago and who now form a powerful bloc in his governing coalition.

The strike on Tuesday evening targeted two facilities in Iraq, the US military said in a statement.

"The strikes were in direct response to the attacks against US and Coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups," the statement said.

The strike by fighter aircraft targeted and destroyed a Kataeb Hezbollah operations center and a Kataeb Hezbollah Command and Control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, south of Baghdad, a US defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Kataib Hezbollah paramilitary group said five of its members were killed in the strikes in the Jurf al-Sakhar area south of Baghdad, in a statement posted on social media on Wednesday.

Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah militia is a powerful armed faction supported by Iran's Quds Force, the extraterritorial branch of the Revolutionary Guard.

The official said there were Kataeb Hezbollah personnel present, but an assessment was ongoing about casualties.

Iran has so far avoided direct involvement in the Gaza war, but its proxy forces across the region, including from Lebanon and Yemen, have launched attacks against Israel and US forces.

About 24 hours earlier, US forces were attacked at an air base west of Baghdad and a US military AC-130 aircraft responded in self-defense, killing several Iranian-backed militants, US officials said.

Ain al-Asad air base was attacked by a close-range ballistic missile that resulted in eight injuries and minor damage to infrastructure, two US officials said.

The United States had so far limited its response to the 66 attacks against its forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria, claimed by Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups, to three separate sets of strikes in Syria.

At least 62 US personnel have suffered minor injuries or traumatic brain injuries in the attacks.

Republicans and others criticized the Biden administration for its lack of determination to respond more forcefully against Iranian proxies. Even Pentagon officials in recent days began to talk to the media about their frustration over lack of deterrence. The Washington Post reported that US Department of Defense chiefs were frustrated by lack of action in dealing with Iran-backed attacks.

“Are we trying to deter future Iranian attacks like this,” a Pentagon official told the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity. “There’s no clear definition of what we are trying to deter.”

The attacks against US targets have ended a year-long unilateral truce that Iranian proxy groups in Iraq observed, as Tehran was negotiating the release of its frozen funds in Iraqi and South Korean banks. The US agreed earlier this year to unblock around $17 billion, followed by the Hamas terror attack on Israel. The militias then resumed their drone and rocket strikes against US bases, saying it was in retaliation for US support for Israel.

The United States has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq on a mission it says aims to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swaths of both countries before being defeated.