US airstrikes left 19 people dead in Iraq and Syria on Sunday in retaliation against an Iranian-backed militia group blamed for a rocket attack two days earlier that killed an American contractor.
Just hours ago, the United States military struck multiple targets in Iraq and Syria after Iranian militia group had launched rockets that killed an American contractor. 19 people were killed in the airstrikes, none of the American, and several weapons caches were destroyed.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said "Today what we did is take a decisive response that makes clear what President Trump has said for months and months and months, which is that we will not stand for the Islamic Republic of Iran to take actions that put American men and women in jeopardy". How refreshing it is that, unlike
the Obama presidency, the Trump administration takes swift and immediate action when the interests of the United States is concerned. Good job, Mr. President.
Air strikes leave 19 dead in Iraq and Syria as US retaliates against Iranian-backed militia group that launched fatal rocket attack killing American civilian contractor
FROM DAILY MAIL UK: F-15 Strike Eagles hit five targets associated with Kataib Hezbollah, the Iranian-sponsored Shiite militia group, said Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The fighter jets struck at three targets in Western Iraq and two in Eastern Syria that were either command and control facilities or weapons caches for Kata'ib Hezbollah
'The Department of Defense took offensive actions in defense of our personnel interests in Iraq', Esper said during a press conference at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. CNN was reporting that at least 19 people were killed in the air strikes. Kataib Hezbollah is a group under the Popular Mobilization Units.
Jewad Kadum, a PMU official, said in a statement that rescue operations were ongoing as well as the evacuation of the wounded, recovery of the dead bodies and the extinguishing of the fire caused by the airstrikes.
The locations included weapons storage facilities and command and control locations the group had used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces, the Pentagon said during an earlier announcement. Esper, appearing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, said the retaliatory air strikes on Sunday were 'successful' and that all pilots and aircraft involved returned safely.
The United States had accused the group of a 30-plus rocket attack on Friday that killed the US civilian contractor and injured four US service members and two members of the Iraqi Security Forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.
READ MORE
No comments:
Post a Comment