February 2024 United States airstrikes in Iraq and Syria

Since the onset of the Israel–Hamas war on 7 October 2023, militia groups supported by Iran have executed more than 170 attacks on US bases in Iraq, Jordan and Syria. These attacks have resulted in injuries to dozens of troops. On 28 January 2024, a Shahed 136 drone strike carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq targeted Tower 22, a US base in Jordan, resulting in the deaths of three US troops and causing injuries to 47 others.

2 February

Around midnight between 2 and 3 February local time (UTC+3), the United States Air Force carried out airstrikes targeting Iran-affiliated militia groups in Iraq and Syria. The operation involved two B-1B bombers deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. The targeted facilities included command and control operations centers, intelligence centers, rockets, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicle storage, as well as logistics and munition supply chain facilities belonging to militia groups. American officials reported that the strikes hit 85 targets across seven facilities, three in Iraq and four in Syria, using 125 precision-guided missiles. Of the 85 sites targeted, more than 80 were destroyed or rendered inoperable. The 15,000-mile round trip required 44 hours flying time from Texas.

Iraqi security officials reported that six airstrikes targeted a number of locations in Iraq, while Syrian state media announced that "American aggression" struck a number of sites in Syria's desert areas and the Iraq–Syria border. Iraqi officials reported that airstrikes targeted the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Akashat, killing 16 fighters. Iraqi officials also said that three houses used by Kata'ib Hezbollah in Al Anbar Governorate were hit by airstrikes.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 35 Iran-backed militants were killed in the airstrikes in Syria.

7 February

At 9:30 p.m. local time, the United States conducted a drone strike on a vehicle in Baghdad, resulting in the death of three Kata'ib Hezbollah militants, among them senior commander Abu Baqir al-Saadi. The attack was denounced by the Iraqi government, saying that the US-led military coalition in Iraq is becoming a "factor for instability".

The United States Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on several individuals affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Satellite imagery by Planet Labs revealed the extensive destruction of a facility utilized by the Liwa Fatemiyoun militia in the town of Ayyash, near Deir Ez-Zor in Syria. The facility was targeted and subsequently obliterated by B-1B bombers.

In Iraq, a funeral was held in Baghdad for 17 militiamen killed by the airstrikes on 4 February, with crowds chanting "America is the greatest devil" and holding pictures of the victims besides the ambulances transporting their remains.

On 4 February, U.S. president Joe Biden announced the intention to direct additional measures, including against the IRGC and IRGC-affiliated personnel and facilities, as appropriate, to address the series of attacks against United States forces and facilities.

United States

President Joe Biden wrote in a statement that their response to the drone attack in Jordan had begun and would "continue at times and places of our choosing."

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin referred to the strikes as "the start of our response" and that Biden had "directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces."

Iraq

The Iraqi government condemned the attacks, calling it a "new aggression" against its sovereignty. Iraq summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires in Baghdad to deliver a formal protest.

Syria

The Syrian Ministry of Defence slammed the "aggression of the American occupation forces", which it said was attempting "to weaken the ability of the Syrian Arab Army and its allies in the field of fighting terrorism".

Iran

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks, calling it a "strategic error by the US government which will have no result but to intensify ... instability in the region". Foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said the attacks were a "violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria, international law, and a clear violation of the United Nations Charter".

President Ebrahim Raisi said that Iran will not start a war, but it will "respond strongly" to anyone who bullies it.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations claimed that Iran and its allied militias were comparable to that of NATO.

Iraqi militias

The leader of the Iraqi Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada militia group called on Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia not to allow the United States to use their territory to launch attacks, saying that militias would target the source of the attacks.

The spokesperson for Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba, Hussein al-Mosawi, said that the US "must understand that every action elicits a reaction" and also saying that "We do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions."

The Chairman of the Popular Mobilization Commission Falih Al-Fayyadh said that the US airstrikes went "too far" because they targeted a Popular Mobilization Forces facility, saying that attacking it was crossing the "red line" and that US strikes will not go "unnoticed."

Others

Hezbollah condemned the attacks, calling it a "blatant violation of the sovereignty of the two countries" and an "attack on their security and territorial integrity".

Hamas condemned the airstrikes as pouring "oil on the fire".

Palestinian Islamic Jihad condemned the attacks, calling the attacks "blatant American aggression" in the interest of “Western colonialism and the Zionist entity", the group also stated that it “salutes to the revolutionary Iraqi and Syrian peoples who, along with the Yemeni and Lebanese peoples, are paying the price for their support of our Palestinian people in resisting the war of genocide."

The United Kingdom called the United States its "steadfast" ally and said that it supports the United States' right to respond to the attacks on its bases.

Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said the US airstrikes were the result of Iranian proxies "playing with fire".

Russia condemned the attacks, The Russian foreign ministry said that the US was "sowing chaos and destruction” in the Middle East. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that "It is obvious that the air strikes are deliberately designed to further inflame the conflict".

China condemned the attacks. Beijing’s ambassador Zhang Jun said that "The US military actions are undoubtedly stoking new turmoil in this region and further intensifying tensions" at the UN.

• Operation Praying Mantis
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