WASHINGTON, March 13. /TASS/. The United States conducted precision strikes on Thursday against Kata'ib Hizbollah facilities in Iraq in response to an earlier attack on Camp Taji, the US Department of Defense said in a statement.
"Earlier this evening, the United States conducted defensive precision strikes against Kata'ib Hizbollah (KH) facilities across Iraq. These strikes targeted five weapon storage facilities to significantly degrade their ability to conduct future attacks against Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces.These weapon storage facilities include facilities that housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops," the statement said.
"These strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups (SMG) who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces," the statement added.
"Yesterday's attack on Camp Taji killed two U.S. and one U.K. service members and wounded 14 others," the statement noted.
"The United States will not tolerate attacks against our people, our interests, our allies," US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper was quoted as saying. "As we have demonstrated in recent months, we will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region," Esper added.
"There terror groups must cease their attacks on U.S. and coalition forces or face consequences at a time and place of our choosing," the statement concluded.