The U.S. military has carried out airstrikes purportedly in self-defense in Iraq, Yemen, and Somalia over the last four days, representing the ongoing tension in other parts of the world.
U.S. forces have targeted Iranian-supported Iraqi militias and the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen repeatedly in recent weeks, though neither anti-U.S. group has ceased the attacks that prompted the U.S. response.
Shortly after midnight early Wednesday morning, the U.S. carried out strikes against three facilities used by the Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq. U.S. officials said the strikes were in response to an attack carried out days earlier targeting the U.S. Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq. Four U.S. service members suffered head injuries in the attack, while all of them have since returned to duty, according to Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder.
These Iraqi militia groups have carried out more than 150 of these attacks that target U.S. military bases in Syria and Iraq since mid-October, while the U.S. has conducted a handful of strikes against them in response. The U.S. targeted and killed Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al Jawari, also known as Abu Taqwa, who was a Harakat Hezbollah al Nujaba leader, in Baghdad, Iraq, earlier this month.
Hours after the U.S. carried out its most recent strike against Kataib Hezbollah, U.S. forces hit two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed at the Southern Red Sea, according to U.S. Central Command. Late on Monday night, the U.S. and U.K. militaries carried out strikes against eight Houthi targets.
The U.S. military has repeatedly targeted the Houthis this month as they continue to carry out attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the other waterways off the Yemeni coast. Ryder acknowledged on Tuesday that since Jan. 11, the U.S. believes it has degraded more than 25 missile launch and deployment facilities and more than 20 missiles, and they’ve struck unmanned aerial, vehicle, coastal radar, air surveillance capabilities, and weapons storage areas.
Despite the U.S.’s continued strikes, the Houthis “maintain some capability,” Ryder said.
Unrelated to those conflicts, U.S. Africa Command carried out an airstrike on Sunday in a remote area of Somalia that initial assessments believe killed three al Shabaab terrorists. The Somali government requested U.S. forces carry out these strikes.
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U.S. Africa Command described the al Shabaab terrorist group, which is primarily located in Somalia, as the largest and most active al Qaeda network globally. Prior to the strike, the U.S. last targeted al Shabaab on Dec. 17 and Dec. 20.
U.S. forces carried out strikes in Syria in November due to the militias’ attacks against them.
