WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the recent military’s air strikes in Iraq were aimed to deter Iran and Iran-backed groups from carrying out attacks on United States troops.
The U.S. military conducted retaliatory air strikes on Monday in Iraq after a drone attack by aligned militants injured three U.S. service personnel.
The clash is the latest demonstration of how the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas is impacting other parts of the Middle East.
Biden in a letter to the top leaders of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday said the strikes were intended to disrupt and degrade and the ongoing series of attacks against the United States and its partners, and to deter Iran and militia groups from carrying out further attacks on United States personnel.
He said the United States stands ready to take further action, appropriate and as necessary to counter further threats or attacks.
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Militia groups in Iraq and Syria oppose Israel’s war in Gaza and hold the United States responsible for its support to Israel.
Earlier, the U.S. military said the strikes in Iraq likely killed a number of Hezbollah members and destroyed facilities used by the group.
Iran dismisses involvement in the attacks by militias on US troops.
The Gaza Health Ministry stated that Israeli troops had killed around 195 Palestinian people and injured 325 in the last 24 hours, bringing the recorded death toll to more than 21,110, with 55,243 injured in Israeli assaults in the coastal Palestinian territory since Oct. 7.
The UN has said that some 1.87 million Palestinians, over 80 percent of Gaza’s population, have left their homes because of the Israeli bombardment of the besieged enclave.
