US Strikes Targets in Iraq After Drone Attack Injures Troops

Credit: U.S. Air Forces Central Command

The US military launched strikes on three installations in Iraq targeting what it said is a terrorist group backed by Iran that Washington has accused of a series of attacks on American personnel, including one Monday that left three people injured.

The back-and-forth underscores the risk of the Israel-Hamas war widening into a broader conflagration. Iran said an Israeli air strike in Damascus on Monday killed a senior commander of its Revolutionary Guard. Meanwhile, the US has assembled a coalition of militaries willing to help protect Red Sea shipping lanes after a number of vessels came under attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels based in Yemen. 

Iran backs Hamas and other regional groups. It has denied that it is helping militants to attack commercial ships.