According to Iraqi government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi, US strikes targeting armed pro-Iranian forces in the country’s west have killed at least 16 people—including civilians—and injured 23 others as of Saturday.
According to a statement from Awadi, the strikes affected “locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, including areas where our security forces are stationed”.
In response to the death of three US military personnel in a drone attack on a site near Jordan’s border with Syria and Iraq, the US launched the attacks on Friday.
Washington attributed the unreported attack to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of fighters who supported Iran and were against US assistance to Israel in Gaza.
Tehran has refuted any association with the assault.
A representative for the White House stated on Friday that the US had “warned the Iraqi government before the strikes”.
However, Baghdad refuted any prior coordination between it and Washington before the bombs.
Awadi added that the proposal was “an unfounded claim crafted to mislead international public opinion and evade legal responsibility” and accused the US of “deception and distortion of facts” for allegedly breaking international law.
“This aggressive air strike will push the security situation in Iraq and the region to the brink of the abyss,” added the spokesperson.
Awadi reiterated the demand of his administration for the withdrawal of the international coalition led by the United States against terrorism from Iraq and denounced the use of Iraqi soil as a “battleground for settling scores”.
The coalition was “endangering security and stability in Iraq” and had “deviated from its assigned tasks and granted mandate,” he claimed.
approximately 900 US soldiers are stationed in Syria and approximately 2,500 in Iraq as part of the coalition that was established in 2014 to combat the Islamic State group, which took control of nearly a third of Iraq that year.
