Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin announced that the United States is carrying out attacks against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq in retaliation for recent attacks on US and coalition troops in Iraq and Syria.

Austin said: "At President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces conducted necessary and proportionate strikes on three facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group and other Iran-affiliated groups in Iraq.

These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria by Iranian-sponsored militias."

US Middle East Command (Centcom) reported that the strikes targeted "Hezbollah Brigades' headquarters, as well as storage and training areas for rockets, missiles and unidirectional attack drones."

According to local and international media, the attacks targeted Hezbollah Brigades in the Jurf al-Sahr region, approximately 60 km south of Baghdad, and the Al-Qaim region on the neighboring Syrian border. According to Iraqi security sources and Hashd al-Shaabi, which includes the Hezbollah Brigades, two people died in the attack in Al Qaim.

In a statement early Wednesday, Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassim Al-Aaraji said the US attacks did not help defuse tensions.