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Senator
The war expands:
US Strikes Targets in Iraq After Drone Attack Injures Troops
(Bloomberg) -- The US military launched strikes on three installations in Iraq targeting what it said is a terrorist group backed by Iran that Washington has accused of a series of attacks on American personnel, including one Monday that left three people injured.
The back-and-forth underscores the risk of the Israel-Hamas war widening into a broader conflagration. Iran said an Israeli air strike in Damascus on Monday killed a senior commander of its Revolutionary Guard. Meanwhile, the US has assembled a coalition of militaries willing to help protect Red Sea shipping lanes after a number of vessels came under attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in Yemen.
Iran backs Hamas and other regional groups. It has denied that it is helping militants to attack commercial ships.
“At President Biden’s direction, US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement late Monday. Directly addressing the threat of a wider war, Austin said that “while we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities.”
In a separate statement, US Central Command said “early assessments indicate that these US airstrikes destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants.” Centcom added there were no indications civilian lives were affected.
Iraq condemned the US strikes, with statement from the prime minister’s office saying the US had targeted “Iraqi military sites” and that a member of the country’s armed forces was killed.
The Christmas Day strikes followed what the White House described as a drone attack on US forces in northern Iraq that wounded three service members, including one critically. President Joe Biden was briefed on that attack Christmas morning and, in an afternoon call with Austin and other national security officials, ordered the retaliatory response.
Complete text: US Strikes Targets in Iraq After Drone Attack Injures Troops (msn.com)
US Strikes Targets in Iraq After Drone Attack Injures Troops
(Bloomberg) -- The US military launched strikes on three installations in Iraq targeting what it said is a terrorist group backed by Iran that Washington has accused of a series of attacks on American personnel, including one Monday that left three people injured.
The back-and-forth underscores the risk of the Israel-Hamas war widening into a broader conflagration. Iran said an Israeli air strike in Damascus on Monday killed a senior commander of its Revolutionary Guard. Meanwhile, the US has assembled a coalition of militaries willing to help protect Red Sea shipping lanes after a number of vessels came under attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in Yemen.
Iran backs Hamas and other regional groups. It has denied that it is helping militants to attack commercial ships.
“At President Biden’s direction, US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement late Monday. Directly addressing the threat of a wider war, Austin said that “while we do not seek to escalate conflict in the region, we are committed and fully prepared to take further necessary measures to protect our people and our facilities.”
In a separate statement, US Central Command said “early assessments indicate that these US airstrikes destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants.” Centcom added there were no indications civilian lives were affected.
Iraq condemned the US strikes, with statement from the prime minister’s office saying the US had targeted “Iraqi military sites” and that a member of the country’s armed forces was killed.
The Christmas Day strikes followed what the White House described as a drone attack on US forces in northern Iraq that wounded three service members, including one critically. President Joe Biden was briefed on that attack Christmas morning and, in an afternoon call with Austin and other national security officials, ordered the retaliatory response.
Complete text: US Strikes Targets in Iraq After Drone Attack Injures Troops (msn.com)
