The United States has launched a new round of attacks on Iranian-backed militias in a new round of airstrikes. The ruling class claims these attacks are in response to attacks that injured American troops.

“Today, at President Biden’s direction, US military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against US and coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias.”

The latest airstrikes targeting Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated militia groups in Iraq were launched just after midnight local time on Wednesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. The strikes were aimed at Kataib Hezbollah’s headquarters in Iraq, as well as storage and training facilities, and were intended to degrade the group’s ability to mount drone and missile attacks. -RT

Austin added that he and Biden will not hesitate to “take necessary action” to defend U.S. forces and their allies in the region. “We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region. We are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities. We call on these groups and their Iranian sponsors to immediately cease these attacks.”

The ruling class of Iraq condemned the previous round of US airstrikes against Kataib Hezbollah last month, calling them “an unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty.” The U.S. airstrikes in December killed one member of Baghdad’s security forces and injured 18 people, including civilians, according to the Iraqi prime minister’s office.

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This war is quickly advancing. The U.S. and Iran are exchanging strikes as Israel continues it’s offensive in Palestine.