SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Supporters of Hashid al-Shaabi on Tuesday protested in Baghdad against U.S. airstrikes that targeted a site belonging to an Iraqi militia group on the border between Iraq and Syria.
Thousands of Hashid al-Shaabi supporters gathered in Jadriya area to participate in the funeral ceremony of four members of Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada faction who were killed in the U.S. strike.
Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qassem al-Araji, head of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Faleh al-Fayyadh and head of Fateh Alliance Hadi al-Amri also attended the ceremony.
The U.S. military said in a statement on Sunday that it targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, in response to drone attacks by the Iran-backed militia against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq.
The strikes came at the direction of U.S. President Joe Biden, the second time he has ordered retaliatory strikes against Iran-backed militia since taking office five months ago.
Biden last ordered limited strikes in Syria in February, that time in response to rocket attacks in Iraq.
The Pentagon said the facilities targeted were used by Iran-backed militia including Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada.
One of the facilities targeted was used to launch and recover the drones, a defense official said.
In response to the airstrikes, the U.S. forces stationed in Syria came under rocket fire on Monday, but escaped injury.
U.S.-led Coalition Spokesman Col. Wayne Marotto said U.S. forces had responded to the multiple rockets by firing back at the positions in self-defense.
Sources in Deir al Zor, in eastern Syria, told Reuters that an Iranian-backed militia group had fired a few artillery rounds in the vicinity of al Omar oil field, which is controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
U.S. officials believe Iran is behind a ramp-up in increasingly sophisticated drone attacks and periodic rocket fire against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq, where the U.S. military has been helping Baghdad combat the remnants of Islamic State.
Two U.S. officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said Iran-backed militias carried out at least five drone attacks against facilities used by U.S. and coalition personnel in Iraq since April.
