US carries out strike in Iraq amid regional tension
PHOTO CAPTION: A U.S. Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon takes off from the Atlantic City Air National Guard base in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., Dec. 9, 2015. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. Andrew J. Moseley via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service)
By Ahmed Rasheed, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
BAGHDAD/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Tuesday carried out a strike in Iraq that U.S. officials described as self defence, as regional tensions rose after an Israeli airstrike in Beirut that Israel said killed Hezbollah's most senior commander.
Iraqi police and medical sources said the strike inside a base south of Baghdad used by Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) killed four members of the group that contains several Iran-aligned armed militias, and wounded four others.
In a statement after the blasts, the Popular Mobilization Forces made no accusation about who was responsible.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States carried out an airstrike in Musayib, located in Babil province, but did not provide more details on the location.
The officials added that the strike targeted militants that the U.S. deemed were looking to launch drones and posed a threat to U.S. and coalition forces.
The officials did not comment on any casualties.
"This action underscores the United States' commitment to the safety and security of our personnel," one of the officials said.
Iraq condemned the strike saying the U.S.-led military coalition committed a "heinous crime" by targeting security sites south of Baghdad and said the attacks were a serious violation of the coalition's mission and mandate, an Iraqi military spokesman said in a statement.
Multiple rockets were launched toward Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase housing U.S.-led forces last week, U.S. and Iraqi sources said, with no damage or casualties reported. U.S. officials said none of the rockets hit the base.
Tuesday's action was the first known U.S. strike in Iraq since February, when the U.S. military launched airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and Iran-aligned militias.
The 150,000-strong Popular Mobilisation Forces, a state-sanctioned grouping of Iraqi paramilitaries, is dominated by heavily armed and battle-hardened groups loyal to Iran and with close ties to its Revolutionary Guards.
Iraq, a rare ally of both the U.S. and Iran which hosts 2,500 U.S. troops and has Iran-backed militias linked to its security forces, has witnessed escalating tit-for-tat attacks since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.
Iraq wants troops from the U.S.-led military coalition to begin withdrawing in September and to formally end the coalition's work by September 2025, Iraqi sources have said, with some U.S. forces likely to remain in a newly negotiated advisory capacity.
The issue is highly politicized, with mainly Iran-aligned Iraqi political factions looking to show that they are again pushing out the country's one-time occupier, while U.S. officials want to avoid giving Iran and its allies a win.
U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003, toppled former leader Saddam Hussein and then withdrew in 2011, only to return in 2014 to fight Islamic State at the head of a coalition.
(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed, Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Cynthia Osterman, Christopher Cushing and Conor Humphries)
