“On the morning of November 22 in Iraq, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces conducted discrete, precision strikes against two facilities in Iraq,” read a statement from the US forces.
CENTCOM said that the strikes were in retaliation to the attacks on US coalition bases in Iraq and Syria, which have been ongoing since October 17 in response to Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Gaza, including an attack on the Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq's western province of Anbar on Tuesday which resulted in eight American personnel being injured.
Wednesday’s strikes come hours after CENTCOM announced its first retaliatory strike targeting the Iran-backed groups in Iraq since the start of the attacks. The first retaliatory strike resulted “in several enemy casualties” according to CENTCOM.
The US has carried out three retaliatory strikes against pro-Iran militias in Syria, most recently targeting two Iran-linked facilities in Syria’s eastern Deir ez-Zor province on November 13.
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said during a presser last week that the US has been “deliberate” in its strikes against the groups, adding that the reason they have only carried out strikes in Syria so far is because Washington is targeting places where it deems it can make “the most impact.”
Singh stressed that the purpose of the retaliatory strikes is to "strongly signal" to Iran and its affiliated groups "to stop."
Around 2,500 American troops in Iraq and 900 in Syria are leading an international coalition through Operation Inherent Resolve that has assisted Kurdish, Iraqi, and local Syrian forces in the fight against ISIS, which once held swathes of land in Iraq and Syria but was declared devoid of territorial control in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
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