US air force strikes facilities of pro-Iranian militants near Syria-Iraq border

Washington DC [US], June 28 (ANI): US military aircraft have struck facilities of the Iranian-backed militants in the Syrian-Iraqi border region, the US Department of Defense said on Sunday (local time).

“At President Biden’s direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq,” the Pentagon said in a statement on late Sunday.

“Specifically, the US strikes targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries. Several Iran-backed militia groups, including Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), used these facilities,” the statement added.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby in a statement said that President Biden has been clear that he will act to protect US personnel.

“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. We are in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq for the sole purpose of assisting the Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to defeat ISIS,” said Kirby.

The strikes were both necessary to address the threat and appropriately limited in scope, he added. (ANI)