US forces hit 5 Iran-backed military group bases in Iraq, Syria
Baghdad/Xinhua/UNI: The US forces on Sunday attacked five bases of Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) in Iraq and Syria in response to repeated attacks by KH against US-led coalition forces in Iraq, a US military statement said.
The US forces have conducted precision defensive strikes against five KH facilities in Iraq and Syria, including three KH locations in Iraq and two in Syria, the statement said.
"These locations included weapon storage facilities and command and control locations that KH uses to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces," the statement added.
It said that KH has a strong linkage with Iran's Quds Force and has repeatedly received lethal aid and other support from Iran.
"Iran and their KH proxy forces must cease their attacks on US and coalition forces, and respect Iraq's sovereignty, to prevent additional defensive actions by US forces," it added.
A statement by the media office affiliated with the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) said that in the morning, three US airstrikes targeted headquarters of Hashd Shaabi's 45th Brigade near the border with Syria.
The airstrikes left four Hashd Shaabi members killed and some 30 others wounded, the statement said citing initial reports.
The statement gave no further detail but said that more information will be released later.
Earlier, a Hashd Shaabi statement said that U.S. drones bombarded in the evening a paramilitary Hashd Shaabi's 45th Brigade near al-Qaim border town with Syria, in Iraq's western province of Anbar.
The bombardment left a number of the brigade's members killed and wounded, the statement said without giving further details.
The attack came two days after a rocket barrage hit K1 military camp, which houses US troops, in Kirkuk province, leaving a US contractor killed and wounding others.
Military bases housing US troops across Iraq and the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad have been frequently targeted by insurgents' mortar and rocket attacks.
On Dec 14, the US embassy in Iraq accused in a statement Iran's proxies of carrying out attacks on Iraqi military bases where US troops are stationed.
Over 5,000 US troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against Islamic State (IS) militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces.
The troops are part of the US-led international coalition that has been conducting air raids against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.
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