US launches strikes on Iraq over drone attack blamed on Iran-backed forces
Al Jazeera
White House says strikes targeted three sites used by Kataeb Hezbollah and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq.
The United States has launched strikes on Iran-aligned forces in Iraq after a drone attack that wounded three US service members, one of them critically, the White House has announced.
US President Joe Biden ordered the strikes on three sites used by Kataeb Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq, US National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement on Monday night.
Watson said the strikes “focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities”.
“The President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm’s way,” she said. “The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue.”
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said the “necessary and proportionate” strikes were intended to “disrupt and degrade” the capabilities of Iran-aligned groups responsible for attacks against US personnel, including a drone attack on the Erbil Air Base on Monday.
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