US retaliates against Kata’ib Hizbollah in Iraq

The Pentagon announced on Thursday evening that it had struck several Kata’ib Hizbollah sites in Iraq in retaliation for a rocket attack the night before on an Iraqi base housing coalition troops that killed one British and two American soldiers and wounded 14 others.

WASHINGTON DC (Kurdistan 24) - The Pentagon announced on Thursday evening that it had struck several Kata’ib Hizbollah sites in Iraq in retaliation for a rocket attack the night before on an Iraqi base housing coalition troops that killed one British and two American soldiers and wounded 14 others.

“These strikes targeted five weapons storage facilities to significantly degrade” Kata’ib Hizbollah’s ability “to conduct future attacks” against coalition forces, the Pentagon explained.

The base, Camp Taji, lies some 20 miles north of Baghdad, along the Tigris River. Soon after the attack, Iraqi Security Forces discovered the rocket launcher in Baghdad’s al-Rashdiya neighborhood, on the east bank of the Tigris, which is predominantly Shi’ite.

Taji is a huge, sprawling facility, originally used by Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guards.

Kata’ib Hizbollah was behind the Dec. 27, 2019, attack on K-1, an Iraqi base outside Kirkuk, which killed an American translator. That attack prompted an exchange of retaliatory assaults, culminating in the Jan. 3 US assassination of Qasim Soleimani, head of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), followed by an Iranian ballistic missile strike on Al-Asad airbase in western Iraq.

The Pentagon described Wednesday’s assault on Taji as “the latest in a series of rocket attacks conducted by Iranian-backed SMGs (Shia militia groups) against US and coalition personnel,” as it also explained that Iraqi troops were among the casualties.

The US has previously signaled its intention to remain in Iraq, where the so-called Islamic State remains a significant threat. Just on Sunday, two US Marines died as they accompanied Iraqi forces in an operation against the terrorist group in the disputed district of Makhmour.

Indeed, as senior Kurdish officials condemned Wednesday’s militia attack on Taji, they also warned of a “looming” terrorist resurgence, affirming “ISIS remains a serious threat to the security and stability of Iraq and the wider region. Iraq still needs the support of the global coalition to confront the threat.” 

Read More: Kurdistan officials condemn Taji attack, warn of growing threat by radical groups 

Following the US retaliatory assault on Kata’ib Hizbollah on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark Esper stressed, “The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, or our allies.”

“As we have demonstrated in recent months,” Esper continued, “we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in the region.”

The Pentagon statement suggested that Iran was ultimately responsible for the attack on Taji. It seemed to warn Tehran about its continued support to the militias, although it stopped short of issuing a clear, direct threat to that country.

“A number of SMGs,” including Kata’ib Hizbollah, have a “strong linkage” with the IRGC’s Quds Force, the Pentagon noted, “and have repeatedly received lethal aid and other support from Iran that they have used to attack coalition forces.”

“These SMGs and their Iranian supporters must cease their attacks on US and coalition forces or face consequences at a time and place of our choosing,” the Pentagon statement concluded.

Editing by John J. Catherine