US and UK Airstrikes Hit Hezbollah Throughout Iraq // FAI ONLINE

US Air Forces Central Command, Public Domain

The US and UK military have completed a wave of airstrikes across Iraq targeting five facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia. Overflying jet aircraft and explosions were reported near the cities of Baghdad and Karbala, destroying a building under construction at Karbala’s new airport. Structures in western Anbar province and eastern Wasit province were also struck.

CENTCOM Commander USMC Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, Jr confirmed that the targeted structures were all used for storing weapons and component parts, claiming that they were “clearly terrorist bases,” and that the Coalition is “very comfortable with the level of damage that we were able to achieve”, indicating their total destruction.

US-led Coalition media has announced that the action involved “defensive precision strikes” that were “proportional” in response to the rocket attack that killed 2 American and 1 British service members Wednesday night at Camp Taji near Baghdad. The strikes are intended to “degrade” the radical militia’s ability to attack Coalition forces with rockets and missiles provided by the Iranian regime.

CLICK TO SUPPORT FAI’S WORK IN KURDISTAN

FAI has teams on the ground throughout Kurdistan, partnering with authorities and residents for medical care, education, aid distribution and more.

Thursday’s strikes widened the growing rift between the US-led Coalition and the Iraqi government in Baghdad. The latter condemned the action, calling it “treacherous” and a “violation of Iraq’s sovereignty”, promising to make formalized complaints to the UN General Assembly and Security Council. Baghdad claimed that six Iraqi security personnel, including soldiers and policemen, as well as an Iraqi civilian were killed in the strikes. General McKenzie was unrepentant, stating, ““it’s probably not a good idea to position yourself with Kataib Hezbollah in the wake of a strike that killed Americans and coalition members.”

The spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry condemned the joint US-UK strikes and absolved Hezbollah of responsibility for killing US and UK service members, stating,"The United States cannot blame others ... for the consequences of its illegal presence in Iraq.” Lebanese Hezbollah commander Hassan Nasrallah also condemned the strikes, claiming that the targets were civilian in nature and that American government was acting with “arrogance” and “violent tyranny.” His comments contained a veiled threat that US forces will continue to “receive the appropriate response” from Iraq’s “resisting people”.

General McKenzie acknowledged the heightened tensions with Iran, stating that they had not really diminished since the assassination of IRGC commander Qassem Soleimani in January, after evidence surfaced that he was plotting a hostile takeover of the US embassy in Baghdad. McKenzie suggested that the coronavirus crisis in Iran might actually be aggravating the actions of the pariah state in Iraq, as many Iranian officials have been directly affected by the outbreak.