Baghdad has condemned a fresh round of U.S. military strikes on targets inside Iraq, warning that the move will only aggravate tensions in the already volatile Middle East region.
“This unacceptable act undermines years of [U.S.–Iraq] cooperation, blatantly violates Iraq’s sovereignty, and amounts to an irresponsible escalation,” Iraqi military spokesman Yehia Rasool said in a Jan. 24 statement.
The latest round of U.S. strikes “occurs at a time when the region is already grappling with the danger of a widening conflict and the repercussions of [Israeli] aggression against Gaza,” he said.
On Jan. 23, the U.S. military carried out airstrikes on multiple positions inside Iraq said to be linked to Shiite militia groups.
“U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
In a subsequent social media post, Kataib Hezbollah later confirmed that at least one of its fighters had been killed in the strikes. The Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah (not to be confused with Lebanon’s Hezbollah) is considered a terrorist group by the U.S. State Department.
The U.S. strikes were a “direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and [U.S.-led] Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias,” according to Mr. Austin.
Since early October 2023, U.S. forces deployed in Iraq and Syria have come under repeated drone and rocket attacks by Shiite militia groups. The spate of attacks has coincided with a monthslong Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has left thousands of Palestinians—mostly civilians—dead.
Despite the latest U.S. airstrikes, Kataib Hezbollah has vowed to continue targeting “enemy bases” until Israel halts its offensive in Gaza.
Roughly 2,500 U.S. troops are currently deployed in Iraq, while another 900 are stationed in eastern Syria. The deployments are part of a U.S.-led coalition ostensibly tasked with preventing a resurgence of the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group.
Syria views the U.S. military presence there as an “illegal occupation.”
U.S. forces deployed in Iraq, by contrast, remain in the country based on an agreement with Baghdad.
However, some Shiite militias operate within the framework of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an umbrella group that answers to Baghdad.
In his Jan. 24 statement, Mr. Rasool said the latest round of U.S. airstrikes had targeted sites “associated with both the Iraqi military and the PMF.”
Baghdad will treat the strikes as “acts of aggression” and “take whatever actions are necessary to preserve the lives and dignity of Iraqi citizens,” he said.
The airstrikes came three days after a U.S. airbase in western Iraq was hit by multiple missiles and rockets allegedly fired by Shiite militants. According to the Pentagon, four U.S. military personnel were injured in the attack.
On Jan. 22, a Pentagon spokeswoman said the attack on the al-Asad airbase—located some 100 miles west of Baghdad—had also damaged infrastructure.
“It was a larger-scale attack than we have seen before,” she told reporters.
Calls Mount for US Withdrawal
Earlier this month, Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, leader of Iraq’s Harakat al-Nujaba militia group, was killed by a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad.Following the Jan. 4 strike, the Pentagon described Harakat al-Nujaba as an “Iranian proxy” implicated in earlier attacks on U.S. military bases.
Describing the U.S. drone strike as an act of “self-defense,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said al-Jawari had been involved “in the planning and execution of attacks against American personnel in Iraq and Syria.”
However, it later emerged that al-Jawari—and, by extension, the Harakat al-Nujaba—was affiliated with the Baghdad-linked PMF.
The PMF itself later confirmed that al-Jawari—its deputy head of operations in Baghdad—had been killed “as a result of American aggression.”
The organization also claimed that the U.S. drone strike had targeted its Baghdad headquarters, killing al-Jawari and another PMF member.
That was confirmed by Mr. Rasool, who accused the United States of carrying out an “unprovoked attack on an Iraqi security body.”
The following day, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani said his government had begun taking steps to end the U.S.-led coalition’s presence in the country.
In a statement, Mr. al-Sudani affirmed Baghdad’s “firm position on ending the international coalition [in Iraq] after the justification for its existence has ended.”
Nevertheless, on Jan. 8, Maj. Gen. Ryder said the United States had no plans to withdraw troops from Iraq.
“I’m not aware of any plans [to stage a withdrawal],” he told reporters.
“We remain focused on the ‘defeat ISIS’ mission.”
He noted that U.S. forces remain in the country at the invitation of the Iraqi government.
Two days later, however, Mr. al-Sudani reaffirmed his decision to wind down the U.S.-led coalition’s presence.
“There is a need to reorganize this relationship so that it is not a target or justification for any party, internal or foreign, to tamper with stability in Iraq and the region,” he told Reuters on Jan. 10.
“Let’s agree on a timeframe ... so they [U.S. forces] don’t remain long and attacks don’t keep happening.”
According to the Iraqi leader, the only way to avoid further regional escalation is to bring an end to Israel’s offensive in Gaza.
“This is the only solution,” he said.
