BAGHDAD (Dispatches) – Iraq’s government condemned overnight U.S. airstrikes south of Baghdad that killed eight members of Iraqi popular resistance forces Kataib Hezbollah, saying they were a “dangerous escalation” not coordinated with authorities.
The Iraqi government condemned the U.S. strikes as “a clear violation of sovereignty and an attempt to disrupt the stable internal security situation,” while also noting attacks by armed groups went against Iraq’s national interest.
Prominent Iraqi politician Hadi al-Ameri called on Washington to withdraw its troops from Iraq after five members of Iraqi resistance forces were killed in the U.S. airstrike.
Hadi al-Ameri, the head of Iraq’s al-Fatah Alliance reacted to the United States army’s move in targeting the Iraqi resistance group’s positions and emphasized the need for the immediate withdrawal of American troops and the international coalition from Iraq.
The resistance group Kataib Hezbollah said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that five of its members were killed in its stronghold of Jurf al-Sakhar, south of Baghdad in U.S. strikes that Washington said were in response to intensified attacks by those resistance fighters against its troops over the past few weeks.
The Islamic resistance in Iraq intensified their attacks on the occupying US troops after Oct. 7 when the Zionist Israeli regime backed by the United States army launched its aggression on the Gaza Strip in Palestine.
U.S. forces have been attacked 66 times in the Middle East since the uptick in violence that began in mid-October, Defense Department deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh has confirmed.
“U.S. forces have been attacked approximately 66 times since October 17. Thirty-two separate times in Iraq and 34 separate times in Syria,” Singh said during a media briefing on Tuesday.
U.S. personnel have sustained approximately 62 injuries in these attacks, Singh added, noting that the number of injuries does not include those sustained during the Monday night attack because they are still being evaluated.
U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Syria have seen a significant increase in the number of attacks since the breakout of the Zionist regime’s aggression in early October.