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The Iraqi government said the U.S. killed civilians and members of its military on Friday during airstrikes in Iraq and Syria thought to be used by Iran-backed militias linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
On Monday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani issued a declaration of mourning in all government agencies “for the souls of the martyrs of our armed forces and civilians” as a result of the American bombing campaign. The government criticized the strikes as an act of aggression that killed 16 people and damaged buildings and homes in Akashat and Al-Aq’im in Iraq.
“This aggressive airstrike will push the security situation in Iraq and the region to the abyss, jeopardizing the efforts of establishing stability,” officials in Baghdad said in a statement.
The U.S. pushed back on Iraq’s claims, saying their air missions hit more than 85 valid targets including command and control centers, logistics sites, intelligence offices, and several rockets, missiles and drones. The paramilitary militias have a loose and sometimes uneasy relationship with the security forces of the elected government in Iraq.
“We currently assess that we had good effects and that the strikes destroyed or functionally damaged more than 80 targets,” said Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, on Monday.
Friday’s airstrikes were in retaliation for a Jan. 28 drone attack on an American base in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members and wounded dozens of others.
“This is the start of our response and there will be additional actions taken to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and coalition forces,” Maj. Gen. Ryder said. “Attacks on American forces will not be tolerated. We will continue to take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our forces and our interests.”
On Monday, U.S. Central Command continued to assess the damages from the U.S. airstrikes. Maj. Gen. Ryder said it was fair to conclude that there would be some casualties. U.S. military personnel in Syria and Iraq are there to support the international coalition against the Islamic State terror army, but Iraqi officials have increasingly chafed at the presence of more than 2,000 American troops in the country and preliminary talks have already begun on their eventual departure.
In one sign of the fallout for U.S.-Iraqi relations from the strikes, a top Iranian national security official traveled to the Iraqi capital for talks Monday.
Ali Akbar Ahmadian, the secretary of Iran’s national security council, said Tehran respects Iraqi’s sovereignty and stressed their “deep and long-running friendly ties.” It was his first trip to Iraq since he was appointed secretary of Iran’s top security agency in June 2023, according to the state-owned Islamic Republic News Agency.
His Iraqi counterpart, Qassim al-Araji, said the meeting showed “the depth of ties and the development of common views in the face of threats and challenges,” IRNA reported.
Maj. Gen. Ryder said the U.S. is striking targets associated solely with the IRGC and Iranian-backed proxies who are staging attacks on U.S. forces.
“I won’t speak for Iraq. They’re a valued partner and we’ll continue to work closely with them and consult with them,” he said. “We have consistently communicated to the Iraqis and others but we reserve the right to defend our personnel from attacks by Iranian-backed militias.”
Officials in Baghdad accused the Biden administration of engaging in “deception and distortion” by claiming that it coordinated the strikes with the Iraqi government. On Monday, Iraqi government spokesman Basim Alawadi said the U.S. wants to mislead international public opinion and evade legal responsibility for Friday’s airstrikes.
“The presence of the international coalition, which deviated from its assigned tasks and mandate, has become a reason for endangering security and stability in Iraq,” Mr. Alawadi said in a statement. “It also serves as a justification for entangling Iraq in regional and international conflicts.”
State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters in Washington that the U.S. government had clearly signaled that retaliatory strikes were coming but did not alert Baghdad until after Friday’s mission was launched.
“Iraq, like every country in the region, understood that there would be a response after the deaths of our soldiers,” Mr. Patel said. “As for the specific response on Friday, there was not a pre-notification. We informed the Iraqis immediately after the strikes occurred.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Qassim al-Araji.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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