IRAN-BACKED MILITIA BASES IN IRAQ ARE STRUCK BY US RETALIATORY ATTACKS

US stages retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq, officials say

U.S. personnel suffered brain injuries in a ballistic missile attack Sunday.

 

By Luis Martinez and Anne Flaherty

 

ABC News

January 23, 2024

 

 

The Ain al Asad air base in Iraq’s Anbar province

 

The U.S. on Tuesday staged airstrikes against Iran-backed militias in Iraq in retaliation for ballistic missiles fired Sunday against Al-Assad airbase that left four U.S. personnel with traumatic brain injuries, two U.S. officials said.

"Today, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq. These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.

"The President and I will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend them and our interests,"" he said. "We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region. We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities. We call on these groups and their Iranian sponsors to immediately cease these attacks."

 

The Iran-backed militia in Iraq said the attacks against US forces would continue

 

Sunday’s attack on U.S. troops at the sprawling Iraqi airbase in western Iraq involved 17 ballistic missiles and rockets and was launched from inside Iraq, according to three U.S. officials.

While the majority of the projectiles were blocked, two ballistic missiles were able to get through U.S. air defenses, the officials said.

The Pentagon said that the attack resulted in structural damage to “noncritical facilities” and that four U.S. service members had returned to their duties after having been evaluated for traumatic brain injuries (TBI), an Iraqi official was also injured in the blasts.

U.S. officials anticipate the possibility that additional service members could step forward with TBI symptoms.

There have been more than 150 rocket and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since mid-October carried out by Iranian-backed militias claiming they are in support of Palestinians in the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.

But their use of ballistic missiles, as happened this weekend was seen as an escalation.

There are still about 2,500 American troops serving in Iraq and 900 in Syria to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State.