US Military Strikes Back After Attack from Iran-Backed Forces Kills American Troops
U.S. forces on Thursday attacked Iran-backed militia sites in Iraq in revenge for rocket attacks Wednesday that left three soldiers dead, including two Americans.
A Defense Department news release said the attacks targeted Kataib Hezbollah, a Shia militia group supported by Iran.
“These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces. These weapons storage facilities include facilities that housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops,” the release said.
It called the strikes “defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups (SMG) who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces.”
Fox News reported that the U.S. attack involved manned fighter jets, but did not specify from where they had been launched.
The rocket attack on Camp Taji killed two Americans and one British service member and wounded 14 others.
“The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies,” Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said in the release. “As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region.”
“The President has been clear that we will not stand for the Iranian regime attacking Americans in Iraq or elsewhere, whether directly or through proxies,” the White House said in a statement to the Washington Post.
Esper had earlier said the U.S. would retaliate.
“You don’t get to shoot at our bases and kill and wound Americans and get away with it,” Esper said.
Two military officials cited the coronavirus as a possible explanation for why the attack took place.
Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, who oversees U.S. troops in the region, said he thinks the outbreak of the disease in Iran “is having an effect on how they make decisions,” according to CNN.
“Their inability to effectively respond to the coronavirus is, I think, inducing pressure on and inside the leadership,” he said.
“I think it probably makes them, in terms of decision making, more dangerous rather than less dangerous. But that’s just my assessment,” McKenzie said.
Head of U.S. forces in Middle East on U.S. airstrikes in Iraq: “We believe this is going to have an effect on deterring future strikes of this nature. We’ve seen in the past what happens when you don’t respond,” Gen. McKenzie says. “Kata’ib Hezbollah is closely linked to Iran.”
— Lucas Tomlinson (@LucasFoxNews) March 13, 2020
Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Thursday that any number of reasons could have triggered the attack.
“It could be a lot of reasons,” he said. “It could be coronavirus. It could be rogue Shia militia groups. It could be Soleimani’s birthday. It could be a lot of things. Don’t know.”
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