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February 2, 2024 Israel-Hamas war
The US said it struck 85 targets linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.
- The US said it struck 85 targets linked to Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria on Friday in response to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers. The aircraft used included long-range bombers flown from the United States, according to officials.
- President Joe Biden said adversaries should heed US warnings, while his defense secretary vowed: "This is the start of our response." The US is seeking to deter further attacks on its troops while avoiding a full-scale conflict with Iran in a region already roiled by the Israel-Hamas war.
US strikes hit Iraqi city of Al-Qaim, Iraqi security officials say
From CNN’s Mohammed Tawfeeq and Mitchell McCluskeyUS strikes hit facilities used by al Hashed al Shabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), in the Iraqi city of Al-Qaim, located in the western part of Anbar province along the Iraq-Syria border, according to Iraqi security officials and the mayor of Al-Qaim.
The US views the PMU as Iran-backed militias and considers some of them responsible for carrying out attacks on US targets in Iraq and Syria.
In a statement, Yahya Rasool, the spokesperson of Iraq’s Armed Forces, decried the strikes as a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”
The mayor of Al-Qaim, Turki Al-Mahalawi, said the strikes hit three houses used as weapon warehouses by the PMU.
ir Force B-1 bombers were among the US aircraft that carried out strikes Friday in Iraq and Syria, a defense official told CNN.
The B-1 is a long-range heavy bomber that can deploy precision and non-precision weapons.
The bomber crews that flew from the US made it in one non-stop flight, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters Friday.
The US is "really confident" in the precision of its strikes on the militia targets, Sims said, crediting the B-1 bombers for that assessment.
"Initial indications are we hit exactly what we meant to hit, with a number of secondary explosions associated with the ammunition and logistics locations" the US targeted, he said.
Sims said the US expected there to be casualties when it selected its targets.
The post was updated with additional details from a briefing by Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, Director of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the B-1 bomber mission.
Strikes were designed around weather and there was no communication with Iran, US officials say
From CNN's Kevin LiptakThe timing of Friday's strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria was designed around the weather in the region, according to Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims, who said the US was looking to avoid “unnecessary casualties.”
Friday was the “best opportunity” weather-wise to launch the strikes, Sims said.
While American munitions can operate in cloud cover, the US waited until good weather in “an interest of ensuring that we're hitting all the right targets.”
The US bombers that carried out the strikes flew from the United States, Sims said.
The National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said the United States informed the Iraqi government of its plans. However, he said there had been no communications — backchannel or otherwise — with Iran following the attack that killed three Americans in Jordan last weekend.
The United States said it launched attacks on 85 targets in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone strike Sunday by Iran-backed militants on a US military outpost in Jordan.
…. like I said, nobody is scared of da US anymore. Even Hindu media admits it….hor chupo
