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The U.S. military on Sunday conducted airstrikes on facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region.
The targets are facilities Iran-backed militias have used in unmanned aerial vehicle or drone attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq, according to a statement from Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby.
“Given the ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting U.S. interests in Iraq, the President directed further military action to disrupt and deter such attacks,” Kirby said in the statement.
A defense official told CBS News all the targets — command and control and logistics for drones — were hit. The strike was carried out by U.S. F-15s and F-16s.
This is the second strike against Iranian backed militias during the Biden administration. In February, two F-15 Eagles dropped seven 500-pound bombs, completely destroying nine buildings and damaging two. That was retaliation for a strike that killed an American contractor.
No Americans have been killed since then, although one American died of a heart attack during a rocket attack.
A second defense official said no Americans have been killed by drone strikes in Iraq, but the Iranian-backed militias were “using them in an increasingly aggressive way.” One drone strike hit a hangar used by the CIA in Erbil.
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