Iraq calls US retaliation airstrikes on Hezbollah for drone attack a ‘hostile’ act

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani described US airstrikes on facilities used by Hezbollah as a “clear and hostile act” Tuesday after three American troops were wounded in a terrorist drone strike the previous day.

The US airstrikes, which were ordered by President Biden on Christmas Day from the executive retreat at Camp David, killed “a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants,” according to Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the head of US Central Command.

The Iraqi prime minster’s media office said in a statement that one member of Baghdad’s security forces was killed in the US strikes, while 18 others were wounded, including civilians.

The Iraq government said that while it condemned the initial attack on US forces as “unacceptable,” the American response was also out of bounds.

“It does not serve the path of long-term common interests in establishing security and stability, and works contrary to the declared desire of the American side to strengthen relations with Iraq,” the statement read.

“We stress that this step harms bilateral relations between the two countries, and will complicate ways to reach understandings through joint dialogue to end the presence of the international coalition, and, above all, it represents an unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”

“The Iraqi government emphasizes that it will deal decisively with the attacks of some elements on the premises of foreign diplomatic missions or places where the military advisers of friendly countries are stationed,” the prime minister’s office also said. 

Agence France-Presse reported that the funeral of a dead terrorist was attended by dozens of mourners who chanted “No, no to America,” and carried militia flags alongside photos of assassinated Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani.

A December 2019 missile attack on an Iraqi military base in Kirkuk that killed an American contractor led to then-President Donald Trump ordering a strike against Soleimani at Baghdad’s airport the following month.

Biden chose to respond after suicide drones from the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants attacked a US military base in Erbil, wounding three soldiers, including one critically, according to NSC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson.

“The President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm’s way. The United States will act at a time and in a manner of our choosing should these attacks continue,” Watson said.

“These strikes are intended to hold accountable those elements directly responsible for attacks on coalition forces in Iraq and Syria and degrade their ability to continue attacks,” Kurilla added. “We will always protect our forces.”

The identity of the injured US service member was not disclosed by the Pentagon.

Attacks against US forces in the Middle East have escalated since Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel, during which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were slaughtered and 240 were taken hostage back to the Gaza Strip.

Iran-linked militias in Iraq and Syria have waged more than 100 attacks on American troops since the surprise terror attack on the Jewish state, including a series of drone and missile strikes that Houthi militants based in Yemen carried out against commercial ships in the Red Sea.

Earlier this month, the US embassy in Baghdad also took rocket fire from an unknown terror group.