The United States carried out airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian militias in Iraq after a series of missile attacks on U.S. bases.
In a statement, U.S. Central Command said the strikes targeted the militias’ headquarters, storage facilities, and training locations.
“In response to attacks by the Iranian-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah (KH), including the attack on al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq on Jan. 20, on Jan. 24 at 12:15 a.m., U.S. CENTCOM forces conducted unilateral airstrikes against three facilities used by Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq,” CENTCOM’s statement read. “These strikes targeted KH headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missile, and one-way attack UAV capabilities.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said much the same in his own statement, saying the “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.”
“The President and I will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend them and our interests,” he added. “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.”
Video posted on social media appears to show the aftermath of some of the strikes.
Pro-Iranian militias were quick to respond.
Abu Ala al Walai, leader of the radical Shiite Kata’ib Sayyid al Shuhada militia, designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. as of November last year, called for a “second phase” of operations against the U.S. and Israel, taking the fight to the maritime realm.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“At a time when the criminal American occupation is again blatantly targeting our security forces and our sacred crowd in a number of areas of Iraq, we urge the Mujahideen of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq to begin the second phase of their blessed operations, which includes enforcing the blockade on Zionist maritime navigation in the Mediterranean Sea, and removing the entity’s ports until the Zionist usurper is out of service,” he said in a post on X.
The strikes came after one of the largest missile strikes against a U.S. base since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War, when a barrage of missiles, including ballistic missiles, pounded the Al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq. The attacks wounded two U.S. servicemen.
