U.S. Strikes Iraqi Hezbollah Group; At Least 5 Killed

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – In reaction to increasing attacks on U.S. bases, U.S. fighter aircraft targeted two operations centers affiliated with Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah militia group. The Iranian-backed militia reported the death of five of its members in Jurf al-Sakhar, located south of Baghdad.

The U.S. airstrike followed that of another attack carried out by an airborne AC-130 gunship, which had taken place a day earlier. This retaliatory strike was prompted after the Iranian-backed militia group launched two short-range ballistic missiles at Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq on Monday evening. The AC-130 gunship, already in the air at the time, successfully identified the source of the missile attack and eliminated several of the Iranian-backed militiamen who had fled in a vehicle.

According to a U.S. defense official, the airstrike conducted by the U.S. aimed at and successfully destroyed an operations center of Kataib Hezbollah and a command and control node near Al Anbar and Jurf Al-Sakhar.

Iranian-Backed Militia Groups in Iraq

Kataib Hezbollah is an Iranian-backed militia group and a member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of predominantly Shiite Muslim armed groups established in 2014 to combat the Islamic State. It was later officially recognized as a security agency by the Iraqi government.

However, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani faces challenges in exerting control over Iranian-backed factions. He relied on their support to secure power a year ago, and they now constitute a formidable bloc in his governing coalition.

As of now, there have been 66 strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria since October 17.

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