US conducts 'defensive' strike in Iraq

Operation follows resumption of Islamic Resistance in Iraq rocket attacks on US military bases in the region

The PMF said their forces had been hit by an explosion 'whose nature was unknown, resulting in a number of martyrs and the injury of others'. EPA

American forces conducted a self-defence air strike on fighters in Iraq as they tried to launch drones that were deemed a threat to US and allied troops, a US official said on Tuesday as regional tensions flared after an Israeli air strike in Beirut.

The strike inside a base south of Baghdad used by Iraq's Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) reportedly killed four members of the group that contains several Iran-aligned armed militias, and wounded four others.

“Tonight, US forces in Iraq conducted a defensive air strike in the Musayib in Babil Province, targeting combatants attempting to launch one-way attack [drones]. Based on recent attacks it was assessed that the [drones] posed a threat to US and Coalition Forces,” the US said.

“We maintain the inherent right to self-defence and will not hesitate to take appropriate action.”

The strike comes days after an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias called the Islamic Resistance in Iraq resumed rocket attacks on US military bases in the country and in eastern Syria.

The militias began increasing attacks after the start of the Israel-Gaza war.

Earlier on Tuesday, Israel said it had launched a strike in a southern Beirut suburb in Lebanon against a Hezbollah commander in retaliation for an attack on the occupied Golan Heights, which killed 12 children.

The strike killed at least three people, including a woman and child, and injured about 74.

The Israeli army announced it targeted and killed Fouad Shukr, also known as Hajj Mohsen, the head of Hezbollah's military operations. However, the militant group has not confirmed his death

Washington and Baghdad have been in talks in recent months over the withdrawal of the remaining US troops in the country.

About 2,500 US troops are in Iraq in an advisory and training capacity, after helping the country to defeat ISIS in 2017.