Pentagon says raids that killed at least 25 were reply to deadly Kata’ib Hezbollah attack

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

Russia has called deadly airstrikes by US forces on targets in Iraq and Syria unacceptable and counterproductive, and on Monday urged all sides to avoid fuelling tensions in the Middle East.

The foreign ministry in Moscow joined Iran and Iraq in condemning raids by the Trump administration on Sunday that killed at least 25 people. Iran called the attacks “terrorism”.

Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said Washington had not given it warning of the bombings on three targets in Iraq and two in Syria. American F-15E fighter planes struck camps belonging to the Iranian-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah group.

The Pentagon said it was responding after the group fired more than 30 rockets at a US base in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Friday, killing an American civilian contractor.

It described the airstrikes as defensive. US officials said Kata’ib Hezbollah enjoyed support from Iran, and that the US had hit weapons storage facilities and bases used to plot attacks on coalition forces. At least 55 fighters were injured.

Iraq’s prime minister, Adel Abdul-Mahdi, who is an ally of both the US and Iran, warned the raids would have “dangerous consequences”. He described the victims as members of Iraq’s armed forces and said the US’s actions were a violation of sovereignty.

Tehran was equally scathing on Monday, and a top Iraqi militia leader pledged to carry out further offensive actions against US bases in the coming days.

“US military aggression against Iraqi soil and Iraqi forces is strongly condemned as a clear example of terrorism,” the Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, according to the state news agency IRNA.

The stage appears to be set for future conflict in Iraq between US forces and Iranian proxies. The US and Iranian-backed fighters have previously avoided direct attacks on each other while there was a threat from Islamic State.

The demise of Isis and its loss of territory in Iraq and Syria appears to have initiated a new negative spiral. Forces loyal to Tehran have fired rockets at US bases a number of times over the past two months, culminating in Friday’s large-scale attack, which also wounded four US contractors and two members of Iraq’s security forces.

“The blood of the martyrs will not be in vain and our response will be very tough on the American forces in Iraq,” Jamal Jaafar Ibrahimi, also known as Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, said.

Mohandes is senior commander of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a coalition of paramilitary groups mostly consisting of Iran-backed Shia militias that have been formally integrated into Iraq’s armed forces. He founded Kata’ib Hezbollah, and is one of Tehran’s most powerful allies in Iraq.

Tensions between Tehran and Washington have grown since Donald Trump pulled the US out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and a group of world powers, and reimposed sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy.

Iraq finds itself caught uncomfortably in the middle. Thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent months to protest against the influence of Kata’ib Hezbollah and other Iran-backed forces.

Demonstrators have also condemned rampant government corruption and a political system which keeps most Iraqis in poverty. Security forces have responded with violence, killing more than 450 people.

The PMF played a key role in allowing Iraq’s armed structures to retake a third of the country from Isis. They were later integrated into the country’s security forces and now wield considerable political influence.

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Mahdi, who is backed by Iran and its allies, resigned last month as the protests continued, but has remained in office in a caretaker capacity.

Iraq’s Fatih alliance, which holds the second-largest number of seats in parliament and largely consists of militia leaders, called the airstrikes an attack on Iraq’s sovereignty.

“The insolent attack by American forces on security forces which targeted the 45th and 46th brigades of the Popular Mobilisation Forces in the al-Qa’im area is an attack on national sovereignty and on Iraq’s dignity,” it said in a statement.

Lebanon’s powerful Shia group Hezbollah, also backed by Iran, condemned the airstrikes as well, calling them a blatant attack on Iraqi sovereignty, security, and stability.