US airstrikes target Iran-backed militias

Pentagon cites drone attacks on troops for actions in Syria, Iraq that kill seven

DAMASCUS/WASHINGTON－The US military, under the orders of President Joe Biden, has conducted airstrikes against what it said were "facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups" in a border region between Iraq and Syria.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the militias were using the facilities to launch drone attacks against US troops in Iraq.

Kirby said the US military targeted operational and weapons storage facilities on Sunday－two in Syria and one in Iraq.

The Pentagon said the facilities were used by Iran-backed militia factions, including Kata'ib Hezbollah and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

At least seven Iraqi fighters were killed in the airstrikes on the Iraq-Syria border region, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, or SOHR, said.

US media reported that the airstrikes, carried out by F-15 and F-16 fighter jets, were in response to five militia drone attacks against US forces in Iraq in recent months.

It was Biden's second use of force in the region since taking office five months ago, a retaliatory response to what Washington claimed was a series of "attacks by Iran-backed groups targeting US interests in Iraq".

The Iran-backed Iraqi factions vowed revenge for the attack and said in a joint statement they would continue to target US forces.

Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned on Monday the attack as a "blatant and unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty and Iraqi national security".

Mary Ellen O'Connell, a professor at Notre Dame Law School, has criticized the US attacks as a violation of international law.

"The United Nations Charter makes absolutely clear that the use of military force on the territory of a foreign sovereign state is lawful only in response to an armed attack on the defending state for which the target state is responsible."

"None of those elements is met in the Syria strike," she was quoted by media reports as saying.

Delicate time

The airstrikes come at a delicate time between the United States and Iran.

Talks on restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement－formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA－in Vienna have shown positive signs for an agreement to be finalized.

During the JCPOA meeting earlier in June, representatives from China, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and Iran agreed on many important issues concerning the revival of the agreement. However, the United States and Iran remain divided over how to achieve a mutual return to compliance with the nuclear deal.

A senior State Department official said on Thursday that the two sides have serious differences over how to revive the nuclear deal after six rounds of indirect negotiations since April.

The US' latest use of force in the region came as Kadhimi met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Jordanian King Abdullah II on Sunday to enhance economic ties, security cooperation and regional stability.

The meeting "is an important message to our people that we are mutually supportive and unified to serve our people and the people of the region," Kadhimi was quoted as saying in a statement from his media office.

In opening remarks, he said the most important challenges facing the three countries are the COVID-19 pandemic, economic difficulties, and security.

Calling on the three countries to unify their stances, Kadhimi said: "We will continue to coordinate on major regional issues, such as the Syrian, Libyan, Yemeni and Palestinian files, to assist our brothers in these countries to bypass the challenges and crises."

Later on Sunday, the three leaders said in a statement after the meeting that they agreed to cooperate in various areas, including on the interconnection of electricity supplies, and to link gas transport networks between Iraq and Egypt via Jordan.

Xinhua - Agencies