Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi on Monday condemned U.S. air strikes on bases of Iranian-backed Iraqi militia, a move that could plunge Iraq further into the heart of a proxy conflict between the United States and Iran, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The U.S. military carried out air strikes on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of a U.S. civilian contractor in a rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said.
At least 25 militia fighters were killed and 55 wounded.
“The prime minister described the American attack on the Iraqi armed forces as an unacceptable vicious assault that will have dangerous consequences,” his office said.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a call with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the U.S. strikes “were aimed at deterring Iran,” the State Department said in a statement.