US strikes Iran-backed militia in Iraq amid Hezbollah-Israel tensions
Pentagon officials are anticipating blowback from Iran-backed militias in the Middle East after an Israeli airstrike killed a senior Hezbollah commander in south Beirut.
WASHINGTON — The US military carried out an airstrike in central Iraq on Tuesday night as American troops braced for anticipated retaliation by local militias after an Israeli strike killed a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.
US officials described the strike in Iraq's Babil governorate as defensive, saying it targeted militants who were preparing to launch a one-way attack drone that posed a threat to US forces.
Explosions were reported in the vicinity of a Kataib Hezbollah base near Jurf al-Sakhar, between the capital, Baghdad, and the city of Karbala on Tuesday night. Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces said in a statement that several of its members were killed in the blast.
Just hours earlier, Israeli airstrikes killed top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in the Dahiya suburb of the Lebanese capital.
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