A drone attack by an Iran-affiliated terrorist group on a military base in Iraq early Monday morning left three U.S. service members wounded, the Pentagon said, and prompted President Biden to order retaliatory strikes.
The attack on the Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq was conducted by Kataib Hezbollah militants, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. One of the three service members wounded is in critical condition, Austin disclosed.
In response, Mr. Biden — after being briefed and holding a call with Austin and his national security team — ordered retaliatory strikes on “three locations utilized by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
According to U.S. Central Command, the retaliatory strikes on the three sites, all located in Iraq, were conducted at 8:45 p.m. Eastern Time and “likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants.”
No civilians were believed to have been wounded or killed, CENTCOM said.
The attack on the Erbil Air Base in northern Iraq was conducted by Kataib Hezbollah militants, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement. One of the three service members wounded is in critical condition, Austin disclosed.
In response, Mr. Biden — after being briefed and holding a call with Austin and his national security team — ordered retaliatory strikes on “three locations utilized by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities,” National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said in a statement.
According to U.S. Central Command, the retaliatory strikes on the three sites, all located in Iraq, were conducted at 8:45 p.m. Eastern Time and “likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants.”
No civilians were believed to have been wounded or killed, CENTCOM said.
Iraqi officials said the U.S. strikes killed one militant and injured 18, the Associated Press reports.
In a statement, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani condemned both the militia attack and the U.S. response, calling the U.S. strikes a “hostile act” that infringed on Iraqi sovereignty, the AP reported.
