Biden orders airstrikes on militias in Syria, Iraq

The US military, under the direction of President Joe Biden, carried out airstrikes against what it said were "facilities used by Iran-backed militia groups" near the border between Iraq and Syria, drawing condemnation from Iraq's military and calls for revenge by the militias.

Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the militias were using the facilities to launch unmanned aerial vehicle attacks against US troops in Iraq. It was the second time the Biden administration has taken military action in the region since he took over earlier this year.

Kirby said the US military targeted three operational and weapons storage facilities on Sunday – two in Syria and one in Iraq. He described the airstrikes as "defensive," saying they were launched in response to the attacks by militias.

The Pentagon said the facilities were used by Iran-backed militia factions, including Kata'ib Hezbollah and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada.

Two Iraqi militia officials said in Baghdad that four militiamen were killed in the airstrikes near the border with Syria. They said the first strike hit a weapons storage facility inside Syrian territory, where the militiamen were killed. The second strike hit the border strip.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based group that closely monitors the Syrian conflict through activists on the ground, reported that at least seven Iraqi militiamen were killed in the airstrikes.

The strikes came even as Biden's administration is looking to potentially revive a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The decision to retaliate appears to show how Biden aims to compartmentalize such defensive strikes, while simultaneously engaging Tehran in diplomacy.

The Iran-backed Iraqi militia factions vowed revenge for the attack and said in a joint statement they would continue to target US forces.

Iraq's military condemned the strikes as a "blatant and unacceptable violation of Iraqi sovereignty and national security." It called for avoiding escalation, but also rejected that Iraq be an "arena for settling accounts" – a reference to the US and Iran. It represented rare condemnation by the Iraqi military of US airstrikes.

In Iran, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh accused the US of creating instability in the region.

"Definitely, what the US is doing is disrupting the security of the region," he said on Monday.