US strikes three facilities in Iraq following attacks on American forces by Iran-backed militias

By TARA COPP AND LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the U.S. military has struck three facilities in Iraq, targeting an Iranian-backed militia in retaliation for missile and drone attacks on American troops in Iraq and Syria over the past several days. Tuesday’s strikes came hours after the U.S. said militants fired two one-way attack drones at the al-Asad Air Base, injuring U.S. service members and damaging infrastructure. And they follow the militia’s most serious attack this year on the air base, when it launched multiple ballistic missiles on Saturday. Al-Asad is a large air base in western Iraq where U.S. troops have trained Iraqi security forces and now coordinate operations to counter the Islamic State group.