It was the first time the United States has announced a strike on Iranian proxy forces in Iraq, in response to a spike in attacks on American personnel in the region.
The United States carried out two series of strikes in Iraq against Iranian-backed militants, US officials said on Tuesday, in the first publicly reported US responses in Iraq to dozens of recent attacks against troops in the region.
Until this week, the United States had been reluctant to retaliate in Iraq because of the delicate political situation there.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has limited control over the Iranian-backed militias, whose support he needed to win power a year ago and who now form a powerful bloc in his governing coalition.
The strike on Tuesday evening targeted two facilities in Iraq, the US military said in a statement.
“The strikes were in direct response to the attacks against US and Coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups,” the statement said.
The strike by fighter aircraft targeted and destroyed a Kataeb Hezbollah operations centre and a Kataeb Hezbollah Command and Control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, south of Baghdad, a US defence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
