U.S. counters Iraq condemnation of strikes on Iran-backed militias

LONDON — The United States and Iraq on Friday wrangled over the impact of airstrikes to avenge the deaths of coalition soldiers this week, with a top U.S. general saying the munitions hit military targets while officials in Baghdad insisted that Iraqi troops and a civilian were among the dead.

The U.S. military said it had launched “defensive precision strikes” early Friday morning against targets linked to the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group, calling them a proportional response to a rocket attack that killed one British and two American service members Wednesday.

Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., the chief of U.S. Central Command, said the strikes were carried out by manned aircraft and hit five weapons storage facilities believed to be used by Kataib Hezbollah south and west of Baghdad.

“We assessed that each location stored weapons that would enable lethal operations against U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq,” he said. “We also assessed that the destruction of these sites will degrade Kataib Hezbollah’s ability to conduct future strikes.”

But in Iraq, the strikes were met with a flurry of condemnation and risked intensifying pressure on U.S.-led coalition troops to leave the country. The Iraqi military described the action as “treacherous,” and Iraq’s president, Barham Salih, described it as a “violation of national sovereignty.”

Leading military and political figures said three soldiers and two policemen were killed in the attacks, along with a civilian who was working in an airport that was under construction. In a statement early Friday, another Iran-aligned militia said that further strikes could prompt retaliation involving an “eye for an eye.”

It was unclear if any militiamen were killed in the airstrikes, although Gen. McKenzie said he expected fatalities.