A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship retaliated against Iran-backed militias who used a using a close-range ballistic missile in Iraq, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday.
"I can confirm an attack last night by Iran-backed militias using a close-range ballistic missile against US and coalition forces at al-Assad Airbase in Iraq, which resulted in several non-serious injuries and some minor damage to infrastructure," spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at a news conference. "Immediately, following the attack, a US military AC-130 aircraft in the area conducted a self-defense strike against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and the number of Iranian-backed militia personnel involved in this attack."
U.S. forces have been hacked approximately 66 times since Oct. 17, she said. "Thirty-two separate times in Iraq and 34 separate times in Syria. US personnel have sustained approximately 62 injuries. But this does not include any injuries from last night's attack as they're still being evaluated," said Singh.
She stressed that the retaliatory strike "was not planned" and said the gunship was airborne in the region so the U.S. was able to identify from where the close-range ballistic missile was being shot.
Upon a question regarding the remarks of Sen. Lindsey Graham, who wanted the U.S. and Israel to "bomb Iran even in the absence of direct evidence of their involvement" in the attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, against Israel, Singh said the Pentagon is "extremely mindful" of the conflict broadening into a regional one.
"That's what we do not want to see. We do not want to be pulled into a regional conflict both from attacks on our troops and also from what is happening in Israel," she said, adding the U.S. is "very confident" about the targets it has selected.
Iranian-backed Shiite militias are reported to be responsible for most of the recent attacks against U.S. facilities and installations.
