US Hits Iran-backed Iraqi Militia Believed behind Fatal Rocket Attack

The Pentagon says it launched air strikes overnight between Thursday and Friday against five targets in Iraq used mostly by Kataib Hizbullah, one of several Shi’ite militias known collectively as the Popular Mobilization Forces. A statement issued in Washington identified the targets as facilities used for storing weapons by Iran-backed militias, the goal being “to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks.” Testifying before US senators on Thursday, a top US general mentioned Kataib Hizbullah – without directly blaming it – in regard to a Wednesday rocket attack against an Iraqi base north of Baghdad that killed a US soldier and a British soldier, as well as an American civilian contractor. The attack and the retaliatory strikes end a lull in military tensions between the US and Iran or its proxies that followed a January 3 US drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani together with Kataib Hizbullah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Iran retaliated almost immediately with a coordinated ballistic missile attack on Iraqi bases housing US troops, wounding upwards of 100 soldiers. Kataib Hizbullah is blamed separately for attacks on US targets, including Washington’s embassy in Baghdad.