|
Trending Topics
|
U.S. Targets Iran-Backed Militias in Iraq Once Again
(Wall Street Journal) David S. Cloud - The war in the Middle East is pushing the U.S. military back into combat in Iraq against an old foe - Iran-backed militia groups that two decades ago battled American troops on the streets of Baghdad. Iraqi militias have attempted dozens of small-scale drone and rocket attacks since the war began in a show of support for Tehran, including against a U.S. military base and consulate in northern Iraq and a State Department facility at the Baghdad International Airport. On Saturday, rockets targeted the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. The U.S. said Sunday it has been carrying out attacks against the militias. Iraqi officials say there have been multiple airstrikes apparently by U.S. warplanes on militia strongholds, including along the Iraqi-Syria border. A March 4 airstrike in Babil, in central Iraq, killed Abu Hassan al-Fariji, a commander of the U.S.-designated terror group Kataib Hizbullah. Tamer Badawi, who studies Iraqi militias at the Royal United Services Institute in London, said that since the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began, there have been at least two dozen reported attacks on Iraqi militias, most likely by U.S. forces or its allies.