Biden's airstrikes fail to halt cycle of militia violence in Iraq
The Pentagon says it is taking a recent spate of drone and rocket attacks "deadly seriously."
Pentagon officials are monitoring the situations in Iraq and Syria with “great concern” after at least five rocket and drone attacks targeted sites used by US personnel in the two countries this week.
“You’ve seen us retaliate appropriately when that safety and security has been threatened,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
Three rockets landed near the US Embassy in Baghdad’s Green Zone on Thursday in the latest such incident. No one was reported to have been hurt, but Wednesday two US military personnel were left with what officials described as minor injuries after some 14 rockets slammed into al-Asad Airbase in Iraq’s Anbar province.
The spate of attacks comes just over a week after President Biden authorized precision airstrikes against Iran-linked militia positions in Iraq and Syria for the second time during his presidency. The strikes, which killed four militia members, were designed to end the tit-for-tat violence. They have so far failed to do so.
