US Launches Air Strikes on Iran-Backed Militia Targets

The White House on Monday defended air strikes launched over the weekend on the facilities of two Iran-backed militia groups on the border between Syria and Iraq, the second such attack by the Biden administration in four months.

John Kirby, Pentagon press secretary, said operational and weapons storage facilities, which were being used to launch drone strikes against US troops and facilities, were targeted in Syria and Iraq.

Kirby said late on Sunday that the air strikes were “defensive” and a response to an “ongoing series of attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting US interests in Iraq”. He added that they were being used by several Iran-backed militias including Kata’ib Hizbollah and Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada.