At least 16 people, including civilians, were killed and 25 wounded in the US strikes in western Iraq targeting pro-Iranian armed groups, the Iraqi government spokesman announced today.
In the statement, he stated that the strikes were carried out on the positions of the Iraqi security forces, as well as the civilian zones in the neighborhood, in the Akashat and D'al Qaim regions, near the border with Syria.
"In that aggression... there were 16 martyrs, including civilians and 25 wounded, in addition to the damage caused to residential buildings," the spokesman added.
The US military on Friday launched airstrikes on dozens of sites in Iraq and Syria used by pro-Iranian militias, a prelude to retaliation for a drone attack on a US base near the Jordanian-Syrian border that killed three members of the country's armed forces. , officials told The Associated Press. Washington has announced that it will carry out strikes as a sign of retaliation.
A White House spokesman said yesterday that Washington had warned the Iraqi government before the strike.
Referring to the alleged earlier coordination with the US regarding those strikes, the Iraqi government's statement denied "false allegations intended to mislead international public opinion and to avoid any legal responsibility for that crime."
According to the first balance, which was conveyed to Agence France-Presse by two security sources, 18 people were killed in the strikes, of which 15 were members of armed groups and three civilians.
Since mid-October, more than 165 drone and missile strikes have targeted American troops deployed as part of the international coalition in Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State group.
The pro-Iranian armed group Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for those attacks, and they are being carried out in an explosive regional context, in the midst of the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas.
"The current international coalition has moved away from its mandate and the missions assigned to it, and has become a threat to security and stability in Iraq and risks dragging Iraq into regional conflicts," the Iraqi government said in a statement today.
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