UPDATE - US strikes facilities used by Iranian-backed groups in Iraq

ADDS BACKGROUND

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US carried out strikes on Tuesday against three facilities used by the Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq amid attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria.

“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.

Noting US troops’ continued efforts with regional partners to further dismantle and degrade Daesh/ISIS, Austin said: “The President and I will not hesitate to take necessary action to defend them and our interests. ”

“We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region,” he said.

“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 retaliatory strikes came days after multiple missiles targeted Iraq's Ain al-Asad military base on Saturday, which houses US troops.

The attack was claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of militias which has accepted responsibility for dozens of attacks recently on US and coalition forces in Iraq.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Saturday that at approximately 6.30 p.m. local time, multiple ballistic missiles and rockets were launched by Iranian-backed militants in western Iraq targeting Al-Asad Airbase.

"Most of the missiles were intercepted by the base’s air defense systems while others impacted on the base. Damage assessments are ongoing," it wrote on X.

Tensions have escalated in the Middle East since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israel with US bases in Iraq and Syria coming under attack by Iran-backed groups while attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis on commercial ships in the Red Sea continue.

The Houthis say their attacks aim to pressure Israel to halt its deadly onslaught on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 25,500 people since the Oct. 7 offensive by Hamas. Israel says over 1,200 people are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.