Key Points
- The US has begun conducting airstrikes on targets in Iraq and Syria.
- It came in response to a drone attack on US outpost in Jordan that killed three troops.
- The strikes are believed to be just the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden's administration.
The United States military launched retaliatory air strikes against Iranian forces and Tehran-backed militia groups in both Iraq and Syria on Friday, following a drone attack that killed three American soldiers at a remote base in Jordan.
The US blamed on Iran-backed forces but did not strike the country's territory in response, with Washington seeking to deter future attacks while stopping short of all-out war with Tehran — something both sides have sought to avoid.
"Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing," US President Joe Biden said in a statement.
"The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond," he added.
16 people killed and 25 injured, Iraq says
16 people were killed and 25 injured in the airstrikes in Iraq, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's office said on Saturday.
In a statement, it condemned the strikes as a "new aggression against Iraq's sovereignty" and denied that they were coordinated by the Baghdad government beforehand with Washington, calling such assertions "lies".
The presence of the US-led military coalition in the region "has become a reason for threatening security and stability in Iraq and a justification for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts", the statement added.
Iran's foreign ministry condemned the airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as "violations of the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of the two countries.
Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, in a statement, said the attacks represented "another adventurous and strategic mistake by the United States that will result only in increased tension in instability in the region".
The strikes targeted the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force as well as "affiliated militia groups," with American forces hitting "more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from United States," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
"The airstrikes employed more than 125 precision munitions," CENTCOM said, adding that the targets included command and control and intelligence centres as well as rocket, missile and drone storage facilities belonging to militia groups and Iranian forces "who facilitated attacks against US and coalition forces".
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told journalists that the strikes lasted about 30 minutes, though they involved a lengthy trip for the B-1 bombers that took part after flying from the United States.
He said the Defense Department was still assessing damage from the strikes - which hit dozens of targets at seven separate facilities - but that the US believed the raids were successful, and made clear that more would follow.
Iraq, whose prime minister called for the departure of international troops after a previous US strike in Baghdad, condemned the latest military action as a violation of its sovereignty.
Kirby said Washington "did inform the Iraqi government prior to the strikes," but did not elaborate on Baghdad's private response to that information.
Biden - who had vowed to strike back against those responsible for the drone attack in Jordan - earlier Friday attended a solemn military ritual at a Delaware air base for the return of the three dead soldiers.
The secretary of defense, Lloyd Austin, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General CQ Brown, also attended what is known as a "dignified transfer".
