Six die in retaliatory strike on Iraq airport

James Rothwell

Abbie Cheeseman

IRAQ has said a civilian was among six people killed overnight in a US airstrike on Iranian-backed militia forces in retaliation for an attack on American and British troops near Baghdad.

An Iraqi military spokesman said three soldiers, two policemen and one civilian died in the strike on what the US described as five weapons storage sites run by Kataib Hizbollah, a paramilitary group with close ties to Iran.

Five members of the Iranian-backed militia Popular Mobilisation Forces were also wounded, plus 11 Iraqi soldiers.

The civilian was a cook at the unfinished Karbala airport, where another civilian employee was also wounded. The airport had been identified as a proiran militia base, the Pentagon said.

The US retaliation was condemned by Iraq’s president, who accused Donald Trump of pushing the country to the brink of chaos.

“The repeated violations of the state are a dangerous and deliberate weakening of its abilities and reputation,” said President Barham Salih. “These dangers could lead to chaos and Iraq becoming a failed state.”

Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary, described the US response as “swift, decisive and proportionate”.

He said: “We will continue working with our partners to ensure those responsible for these deplorable acts will be held to account. UK forces are in Iraq with coalition partners to help the country counter terrorist activity and anyone seeking to harm them can expect a strong response.”

Marine General Kenneth Mckenzie, head of the US military’s Central Command, warned that the threat of more violence from Iran and its allies “remains very high”.

It comes after pro-iran militias killed a British soldier and two US troops on Wednesday night in a rocket barrage of Camp Taji. The British soldier was Lance Corporal Brodie Gillon, 26, a combat medical technician who served as a Reserve in the Scottish and North Irish Yeomanry.

Iran responded yesterday by telling the US president that his “presence and behaviour in Iraq” was to blame for the recent attacks against the US and its allies.