MOSCOW, December 30. /TASS/. Moscow views US air strikes against Hezbollah facilities in western Iraq and eastern Syria as unacceptable and counter-productive, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
An Iraqi base near Kirkuk that is used by the US military came under rocket attack on December 27. One US civilian specialist was killed, several soldiers were wounded. Two days later, the United States delivered pinpoint strikes against five facilities of the Kataib Hezbollah Shiite grouping in Syria and Iraq in response to the attacks attributed to it.
"Moscow was alarmed to learn about the exchange of strikes between the Hezbollah group and US army units deployed in Iraq," the ministry said.
"We consider such actions as unacceptable and counter-productive. We are urging all the parties to refrain from further steps fraught with sharp destabilization of the military and political situation in Iraq, Syria and neighboring countries," it stressed.
According to the Al Sumaria television channel, the US strikes against Hezbollah facilities near the Iraqi city of al-Qaim in the vicinity of the border with Syria left at least 25 people dead and dozens wounded. Iraqi President Barham Salih slammed the US strikes as violation of the country’s sovereignty.