Iran-backed militia vows to avenge US airstrikes

AN Iran-backed militia vowed yesterday to retaliate for US military strikes in Iraq and Syria that killed 25 of its fighters and wounded dozens of others.

Iraq described the attacks on Kataeb Hizbollah as a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty, and Iran said the airstrikes were “an obvious case of terrorism”.

Moqtada al-sadr, the notorious Iraqi Shia cleric, said yesterday that he was willing to work with Iran-backed militia groups – his political rivals – to end the US military presence in Iraq through political and legal means. If that did not work, he would “take other actions” in cooperation with his rivals to kick out US troops. His militia fought US troops for years following Washington’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.

The US launched strikes against five targets in Iraq and Syria on Sunday, aiming to damage Kataeb Hizbollah – a separate entity to the better-known Hizbollah, based in Lebanon – which the US blames for the killing last week of an American contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base. The US attack – the largest targeting an Iraqi state-sanctioned militia since 2011 – represents an escalation in the proxy war between the US and Iran playing out in the Middle East.

Russia’s foreign ministry called the “exchange of strikes” “unacceptable”, and called for restraint. “We call upon all parties to refrain from further actions that could sharply destabilise the military-political situation in Iraq, Syria, and the neighbouring countries,” a ministry statement said.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, yesterday praised the “important” strikes, in a phone call to Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state.

Mr Netanyahu “congratulated him on the important US action against Iran and its proxies in the region,” according to the Israeli leader’s office.

Mr Pompeo said the strikes sent the message that the US would not tolerate actions by Iran that jeopardise US lives.

“We have repeatedly – the president, the secretary of state – made clear that if we are attacked by the regime or its proxies we will respond,” said Brian Hook, the US special envoy to Iran.

The US has maintained some 5,000 troops in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government, to help assist in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) group.

Adel Abdul-mahdi, the Iraqi prime minister, said the invitation could now be rescinded. “The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences,” his office said.