The Iraqi government has condemned US strikes on targets south of Baghdad, saying they were not coordinated with Iraqi authorities in a clear violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
A government statement said the strikes were also a clear violation of the mission of the international coalition to fight ISIS.
The office of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called the recent escalations “a dangerous development.”
An Iranian-backed militant group in Iraq warned Wednesday it may strike additional US targets after American warplanes killed multiple militants in response to the first use of short-range ballistic missiles against US forces at Al-Asad Air Base earlier this week.
US fighter jets struck a Kataeb Hezbollah operations center and a Kataeb Hezbollah command and control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, south of Baghdad, on Tuesday, two defense officials said.
There were Kataeb Hezbollah personnel at both sites at the time of the strikes, but the officials said they could not yet confirm whether anyone there was killed.
The group’s officials in Iraq said the attack had killed eight Kataeb Hezbollah members.
