Iran-backed groups continue to attack US troops
|
U.S. forces continue to be targeted by Iranian-backed militants in the wake of striking more than 100 targets in Iraq, Syria and Yemen over the weekend.
|
© AS1 Jake Green/RAF via Associated Press
|
A drone attack on a Syrian base housing U.S. troops killed at least six Kurdish fighters late Sunday. Militias also struck Mission Support Site Euphrates on Saturday, the Pentagon confirmed Monday.
And
a Houthi missile was also fired after a joint U.S., United Kingdom barrage of strikes on 36 sites on 13 locations controlled by the militant group in Yemen on Saturday.
The attacks are the first after the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes across the Middle East against Iranian-backed groups after three U.S. service members were killed in a drone strike in Jordan late last month.
American forces hit 85 targets at seven sites in Iraq and Syria on Friday.
Biden administration officials have said the strikes were just the first phase of attacks against the Iranian proxies in retaliation for the service member deaths.
The White House has
warned Iran that there will be further retaliation if their proxies continue their attacks. National security adviser Jake Sullivan made the rounds on morning news shows on Sunday, warning that the recent U.S. retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria are “not the end of it.”
And Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday that the groups still “have capability,” and that “it would not be surprising to anyone if they attempt to conduct attacks in the future, but when they do, again, we’ll take appropriate action.”
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
|
Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guides to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.
|
|
|
How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future:
|
|
|
The United States did not notify the Iraqi government ahead of U.S. military strikes inside the country on Friday, a State Department spokesperson said Monday, countering an earlier White House message that Baghdad was told ahead of time. “There was not a prenotification” and Washington “informed the Iraqis immediately after the strikes occurred,” Vedant Patel told reporters. “Iraq, like every country in the region, …
|
|
|
|
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly confirmed Sunday he is considering dismissing Ukraine’s top military official after more than a week of speculation, saying Kyiv needs a change of leadership. When asked by an Italian news outlet RAI TV to confirm reports he might fire Ukrainian commander in chief Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Zelensky said the Ukrainian people want “a reset” and “a new beginning …
|
|
|
|
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Sunday that the Iraqi government should work with the U.S. to combat the threat posed by militia groups on its own soil. In an interview on “Fox News Sunday” with Shannon Bream, Kirby reaffirmed the United States’s commitment to respond to any attack on U.S. troops “as aggressively as we need to” when asked about the Iraqi government’s criticism of the U.S. retaliatory …
|
|
|
|
In the past 24 hours, the U.S. military has hit more than 100 targets across Iraq, Syria and Yemen, striking Iranian-backed proxies that have ramped up their own attacks on U.S. troops in the region since October. Washington began late Friday with major airstrikes on more than 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria, a response to a drone strike in Jordan that killed three American soldiers on Sunday. Then on …
|
|
|
|
Upcoming things we’re watching on our beat:
|
|
|
Branch out with a different read from The Hill:
|
|
|
Haley urges Congress to make changes to border bill: ‘We need this fix now’
|
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley urged Congress to amend a bipartisan border deal unveiled by Senate negotiators Sunday, urging lawmakers that “we need this fix now.” “They need to stay there. They need to figure this out. They need to adjust it, amend it in any way that they can, and …
|
|
|
Events in and around the defense world:
|
-
The
Middle East Institute will hold a virtual conference on “The Houthis, Iran, and Red Sea Security,” with State Department Special Envoy to Yemen Tim Lenderking, at 11:30 a.m.
- The
House Armed Services Committee will hold a hearing on military quality-of-life issues at 2 p.m.
|
|
|
News we’ve flagged from other outlets:
|
|
|
Two key stories on The Hill right now:
|
|
|
Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:
|
|
|
|
You’re all caught up. See you tomorrow!
|
|
|
|
Source link
