INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The United States carried out two series of strikes in Iraq against Iranian-backed militants, U.S
officials said on Tuesday, in the first publicly reported U.S
responses in Iraq to dozens of recent attacks against troops in the region, Reuters reported.Until this week, the United States had been
reluctant to retaliate in Iraq because of the delicate political situation there.Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has limited
control over the Iranian-backed militias, whose support he needed to win power a year ago and who now form a powerful bloc in his governing
coalition.The strike on Tuesday evening targeted two facilities in Iraq, the U.S
military said in a statement.&The strikes were in direct response to the attacks against U.S
and Coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups,& the statement said.The strike by fighter aircraft targeted and destroyed a Kataeb
Hezbollah operations center and a Kataeb Hezbollah Command and Control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, south of Baghdad, a U.S
defense official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Iraq&s Kataeb Hezbollah militia is a powerful armed faction with close ties to
Iran, read the report.The official said there were Kataeb Hezbollah personnel present, but an assessment was ongoing about casualties.About
forces were attacked at an air base west of Baghdad and a U.S
military AC-130 aircraft responded in self-defense, killing a number of Iranian-backed militants, U.S
officials said.Ain al-Asad air base was attacked by a close-range ballistic missile that resulted in eight injuries and minor damage to
officials said.The United States had so far limited its response to the 66 attacks against its forces in Iraq and neighboring Syria, claimed
by Iran-aligned Iraqi militia groups, to three separate sets of strikes in Syria, Reuters reported.At least 62 U.S
personnel have suffered minor injuries or traumatic brain injuries in the attacks.The attacks began on Oct
17 and have been linked by Iraqi militia groups to U.S
support for Israel in its bombardment of Gaza following attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel.The attacks against U.S
targets have ended a year-long unilateral truce that Iraqi factions, some formed in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S
troops and others in 2014 to fight Islamic State, declared with Washington.Social media accounts linked to Iran-aligned Iraqi militias
published a statement in the name of the &Islamic Resistance in Iraq& mourning a member who they said had been killed in battle against U.S
forces on Tuesday, without elaborating.His killing is the first reported casualty in Iraq linked to the Gaza war, which has drawn in other
factions in Iran&s network of regional militias, known as the Axis of Resistance, such as Lebanon&s Hezbollah.The United States has 900
troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq on a mission it says aims to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic
State, which in 2014 seized large swaths of both countries before being defeated.The post U.S
forces carry out series of strikes against Iran-backed militia in Iraq first appeared on Ariana News.
