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US Hits Back in Iraq, Targeting Militia Behind Deadly Rocket Attack

Carla Babb

   PENTAGON / WASHINGTON - U.S. warplanes soaring through the skies of
   Iraq hit a series of sites belonging to an Iranian-backed militia,
   exacting revenge for a deadly attack on American and coalition troops
   just 24 hours earlier.

   The airstrikes late Thursday and early Friday targeted five weapon
   storage facilities belonging to Kataib Hezbollah, blamed for a rocket
   attack on an Iraqi military base north of Baghdad late Wednesday that
   killed two U.S. service members and a British soldier, while wounding
   14 others.

   In a statement, the Pentagon described the strikes as "defensive,
   proportional, and in direct response to the threat," adding that some
   of the weapon depots had been used to store the Katyusha rockets used
   in the attack on Camp Taji.

   The U.S. statement also said the strikes against Kataib Hezbollah were
   designed to "significantly degrade their ability to conduct future
   attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces."

   The Iraqi military confirmed the strikes, saying some of the targeted
   locations also doubled as headquarters for the militia.

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     -- Ø®ÙÙØ© اÙإعÙا٠اÙØ£ÙÙÙð®ð¶ (@SecMedCell) [1]March 12, 2020

   The U.S. action was swift but not unexpected, as top defense and
   military officials had indicated earlier Thursday it was only a matter
   of time before the U.S. responded.

   "The U.S. will not tolerate attacks against our people our interests or
   our allies," Defense Secretary Mark Esper told reporters at the
   Pentagon. "You don't get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound
   Americans and get away with it."

   Even earlier, the commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East, Gen.
   Kenneth McKenzie, told lawmakers the death of U.S. or allied troops was
   a "red line."

   He added there was little doubt as to who was responsible.

   Kataib Hezbollah is "the only group known to have previously conducted
   an indirect fire attack of this scale against U.S. and coalition forces
   in Iraq," McKenzie said, referring to a rocket attack against a base in
   Kirkuk this past December.

   Following that incident, which killed a U.S. contractor, the U.S.
   responded with a series of retaliatory strikes, culminating in January
   with the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the Iran Quds Force commander who
   oversaw the activities of the various militias in Iraq, as well as Abu
   Mahdi al Muhandis, Kataib Hezbollah's founder.
   

References

   Visible links
   1. https://twitter.com/SecMedCell/status/1238245386814447623?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

   Hidden links:
   2. file://localhost/middle-east/voa-news-iran/us-kills-commander-irans-elite-quds-force

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