The United States has launched airstrikes against five weapon storage facilities across Iraq.
American officials who disclosed this said the airstrikes, which were launched on Thursday March 12th, 2020, was in retaliation for a deadly attack in which two American troops were killed.
The affected facilities were owned by Iran-backed militia the U.S. believes were responsible for a deadly attack on U.S. troops on Wednesday.
Two American troops and one Briton were killed in the attack on Camp Taji, a base north of Baghdad.
President Trump granted the Department of Defense authority to take any action deemed necessary in retaliation.
The department said, “The airstrikes were a direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups.”
The airstrike targeted militia members believed responsible for the rocket attack that killed and wounded American and British troops at Camp Taji, a base north of Baghdad, on Wednesday.
Officials said multiple strikes by U.S. manned aircraft hit five locations and mainly targeted Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities inside Iraq.
Defense Secretary, Mark Esper, told reporters at the Pentagon earlier Thursday that President Donald Trump had given him the authority to take whatever action he deemed necessary.
“The United States was working to bring the perpetrators to justice before the airstrike was confirmed on Thursday evening in retaliation for Wednesday’s attack from Iran-backed militia,” he said.
The airstrikes were also confirmed in a tweet from Department of DefensePress Secretary Ayyssa Farah.
‘This evening, the U.S. conducted defensive precision strikes against Kataib Hizbollah facilities across Iraq. These strikes targeted 5 weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against the U.S. & coalition forces,’ she wrote.
