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Video footage released by the Pentagon showed one of the strikes on the Iran-backed militia early on June 28, 2021. Photo: screenshot
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — At least four have been killed in US airstrikes against Iran-backed factions Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al Shaabi), stationed on the Iraq-Syria border, early on Monday, just two days after drones attacked an area close to the new US consulate in Erbil.
"At President Biden's direction, US military forces earlier this evening conducted defensive precision airstrikes against facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups in the Iraq-Syria border region. The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq,” read a statement from the US Department of Defense.
“The defensive airstrikes conducted today by the Department of Defense on operational and weapons storage facilities in the Iraq-Syria border region appear to be a targeted and proportional response to a serious and specific threat," added Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives.
The strikes targeted two operational and weapons storage facilities in Syria and one in Iraq, claiming it was used by several Iran-backed groups such as Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
The PMF also confirmed the attack, claiming four were killed. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights placed the death toll at five.
“At 2:00 on Monday morning, on June 28, 2021, the United States of America carried out an air strike targeting the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces, the 14th Brigade, stationed on the Iraqi-Syrian border, as part of the sacred national duty,” read a statement from the PMF on Monday.
Iraq condemned the airstrikes, with top military spokesperson Yehia Rasool saying it was a "blatant and unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty."
"Iraq renews its refusal to be an arena for settling disputes, clings to its right to sovereignty over its lands, and prevents it from being used as an arena for reactions and attacks," he added.
This is the second strike on the PMF by the Biden administration. Late in February, US airstrikes targeted facilities on the Iraq-Syria border killing dozens of PMF militiamen.
The attack has riled up PMF groups, who have vowed revenge.
“From now on, we will enter an open war with the American occupation, the first of which will be targeting their enemy aircrafts in the skies of our beloved Iraq,” Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada said on one of its PMF telegram channels.
“We, at the coordination of the Iraqi resistance, will avenge the blood of our righteous martyrs from the perpetrators of this heinous crime, and with God's help, we will make the enemy taste the bitterness of revenge,” read another statement from the Iraqi resistance coordination. Iran-backed militia across the Middle East often refer to themselves as resistance groups, working against Western forces and influence.
The attack came just two days after four explosive-laden drones hit a village northeast of Erbil, just a few kilometers from the new US Consulate’s construction site.
On Saturday, the PMF held a military parade northeast of Baghdad, where the equipment on display showed the extent of the PMF’s military strength, including drones, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, rocket launchers, and boats. Iran-backed factions of the PMF are widely accused of regular attacks on US interests in Iraq, including diplomatic missions and Iraqi military bases which host, or previously hosted, US-led coalition troops.
Updated 12:30pm
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