BAGHDAD, Dec 30 (NNN-NINA) – Up to 19 paramilitary Hashd Shaabi members were killed and 35 wounded, when U.S. forces attacked their bases, near the border with Syria, in Iraq’s western province of Anbar.
Jawad Kadhim al-Rebi’awi, a Hashd Shaabi leader, said, the attacks targeted headquarters of the Hashd Shaabi 45th and 46th Brigades near al-Qaim border town with Syria, and a number of the paramilitary members are still under the debris, according to the statement.
According to the media, three U.S. airstrikes targeted, in the evening, headquarters of Hashd Shaabi’s 45th Brigade near the border with Syria.
Meanwhile, a U.S. military statement said, U.S. forces attacked five bases of Kata’ib Hezbollah (KH) in Iraq and Syria, in response to repeated attacks by KH against U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
The U.S. forces targeted three KH bases in Iraq and two in Syria, the statement said, adding that, “these locations included weapon storage facilities and command and control locations that KH uses to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces.”
The attack came two days after a rocket barrage hit K1 military camp, which houses U.S. troops, in Kirkuk province, leaving a U.S. contractor killed.
Over 5,000 U.S. troops are deployed in Iraq, to support Iraqi forces in the battles against the Daesh, mainly providing training and advise to the Iraqi forces.
The troops are part of the U.S.-led international coalition that has been conducting air raids against Daesh targets in both Iraq and Syria.– NNN-NINA
