Iraq rebukes US strikes on Iran-aligned groups

Strikes by the United States on Iraqi military positions will lead to "irresponsible escalation" and violate the country's sovereignty, the prime minister's office has said in a statement.

Iraq will consider these operations as "aggressive actions" that undermine years of cooperation, the Iraqi government statement added on Wednesday.

Another criticism comes from the country's National Security Adviser Qassem al-Aaraji, saying that the strikes "do not help bring calm" to the country.

"The US side should pile on the pressure for a halt to the (Israeli) offensive in Gaza rather than targeting and bombing the bases of an Iraqi national body," said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

He was referring to the Hashed al Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation Force), an alliance of Iran-backed former paramilitary groups now integrated into the regular armed forces.

Two dead in Iraq

US forces bombed sites used by Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq early Wednesday after a spate of attacks targeting US personnel, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said, killing two people, according to Iraqi officials.

The strikes came just days after US troops in western Iraq were targeted with ballistic missiles and rockets in an attack the Pentagon blamed on armed groups supported by Tehran.

According to Iraqi sources, the US strikes targeted the Hezbollah Brigades, a group affiliated with the Popular Mobilisation Force.

They hit sites in the Jurf al-Sakhr area, south of Baghdad, as well as in the Al-Qaim area on the border with Syria.

Two people were killed and two wounded in the bombardments in the Al-Qaim sector, an interior ministry official and a former member of the Hashed al Shaabi said.

The US strikes come against an already explosive regional backdrop, fuelled by Israel's war in Palestine's Gaza.