The United States launched airstrikes against targets in Iraq, which it claimed were linked to Iranian-backed armed factions, resulting in at least two deaths among the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated in a announcement, "Under the direction of President Biden, three necessary and proportional strikes were carried out on three facilities in Iraq," referring to the targeting of "facilities belonging to the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah and other groups." Austin noted that the strikes were a "direct response to a series of escalation attacks against us."
The U.S. Central Command announced that the airstrikes were in retaliation for attacks by Kataib Hezbollah, including an attack on the al-Asad airbase in western Iraq. It stated that the strikes targeted the headquarters of Kataib Hezbollah and missile and drone storage sites.
Iraqi security sources reported that five explosions occurred in the Jurf al-Sakhar area of Babil Province, south of Baghdad, as a result of aerial bombardment. The same sources indicated that an airstrike targeted the city of al-Qaim, resulting in the deaths of two PMF personnel.
The Ministry of Defense of the United States (the Pentagon) had previously announced that its forces in Iraq and Syria faced new missile and drone attacks on Monday, with no injuries reported. The Pentagon noted that its forces at al-Asad airbase were attacked by a drone but there were no casualties or damages. It also mentioned that its troops stationed at the aircraft landing zone in Rmeilan, northeastern Syria, were targeted by a missile attack with no casualties or damages reported, as well as multiple missile attacks on "the Euphrates support site" without any injuries or damages recorded. The Pentagon stated that the number of attacks against its forces in Iraq and Syria reached 151 since October 17, 2023, amid rising attacks on U.S. forces in the Middle East due to their support for Israel in its war on Gaza.
