Pentagon confirms strikes against Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq and Syria

The US military has carried out ‘defensive strikes’ in Iraq and Syria against the Kataib Hezbollah militia group, the Pentagon said on Sunday.

This development took place two days after an American civilian contractor was killed in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base.

The Pentagon says that it has targeted three locations of the Iranian-backed Shi’ite Muslim militia group in Iraq and two in Syria.

According to the Pentagon the locations that were targeted, included weapons storage facilities and command and control locations the group had used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces.

‘In response to repeated Kata’ib Hizbollah attacks on Iraqi bases that host Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces, U.S. forces have conducted precision defensive strikes … that will degrade KH’s ability to conduct future attacks against OIR coalition forces’ chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement.

The United States had accused the group of the 30-plus rocket attack on an Iraqi military base on Friday.

The attack killed a US civilian contractor and injured four US service members and two members of the Iraqi Security Forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

News agency Reuters reports that in Iraq, several Iraqi militia fighters were killed on Sunday in an air strike on their headquarters near the western Qaim district on the border with Syria.

The sources said that the strike was likely carried out by drones and targeted Kataib Hezbollah, and ambulances were heading to the area.

Three militiamen’s bodies, including one of a local commander, had so far arrived at a field hospital near Qaim, according to an Iraqi army officer.