US Carries Out Strike in Iraq as Regional Tensions Worsen

Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)

The United States on Tuesday carried out a strike in Iraq in self defense, a US official told Reuters, as regional tensions rose after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut that Israel said killed Hezbollah's most senior commander.
It was not immediately clear if the US strike was the same as the blasts reported earlier at a base south of Baghdad for Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, the official state security agency that includes several Iran-aligned armed groups.
Those blasts killed four people and injured three, according to police and medical sources.
In a statement after the blasts, the Popular Mobilization Forces made no accusation about who was responsible.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was carried out because of a threat to coalition forces based in Iraq. The official did not comment on any casualties.
Multiple rockets were launched toward Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase housing US-led forces last week, US and Iraqi sources said, with no damage or casualties reported. US officials said none of the rockets hit the base.
It was the first known US strike in Iraq since February, when the US military launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and the militias it backs.
Iraq, a rare ally of both Tehran and Washington which hosts 2,500 US troops and has Iran-backed militias linked to its security forces, has witnessed escalating tit-for-tat attacks since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.