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

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.»

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.

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