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KATAIB HEZBOLLAH: IRAN-BACKED GROUP SUSPENDS ATTACKS AGAINST US AFTER DRONE
STRIKE

Published
6 hours ago

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 * Israel-Gaza war

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Media caption,

Watch: Biden tells press he has decided on a response to the drone attack in
Jordan

By Max Matza
BBC News


An Iran-backed Iraqi militia suspected of a drone strike in Jordan that killed
three US soldiers says it has suspended operations against US forces.

Kataib Hezbollah, which is part of an umbrella group that claimed Sunday's
attack, said this was "to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government".

The US defence department said: "Actions speak louder than words."

US President Joe Biden meanwhile said he had decided how to respond to the
attack but did not elaborate.

Iran warned it would retaliate against any attack on its "interests".

Earlier, it denied US and British accusations that it was involved in the
attack.



The US has hinted at an armed response that might come in several waves.

Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement
on Tuesday: "As we announce the suspension of military and security operations
against the occupation forces - in order to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi
government - we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways."

The three US soldiers were killed at a base next to the Jordanian-Syrian border
by a "type of Shahed drone", the one-way attack drones Iran has been providing
to Russia, a US official told CBS News, the BBC's US partner.

Dozens more soldiers were injured in the attack on Tower 22, which was struck
while US forces were asleep in their bunks.

 * What is Tower 22 and why are US troops in Jordan?

The US has blamed Iran-backed groups and has not yet conclusively determined
that Kataib Hezbollah was behind it.

However, a Pentagon spokeswoman said it carried "the footprints" of the group.



"Actions speak louder than words," Pat Ryder told reporters after the group
released its statement.

"There will be consequences," he added.



Meanwhile, the US is taking steps to bolster security at Tower 22, where some
350 US soldiers are stationed in a mission focused on defeating the Islamic
State (IS) group.

Additional air defences are being sent to the base, a US official told CBS News
on Tuesday, including a system designed to intercept drones.

 * What options does US have to respond to Jordan attack?

"Certainly all roads of responsibility lead back to Iran," House Intelligence
Committee Chairman Mike Turner told BBC News, also linking the country to
attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi movement against ships in the Red Sea and
Gulf of Aden.

"This needs to be responded in a way where they understand that we're not going
to just continue to play defensive," he said.



He added that the US reaction would force Iran to "understanding that this is a
conflict that is going to come to their doorstep".

Mr Biden has been weighing a number of retaliatory options, including strikes on
Iran-aligned militia bases and commanders.

The US could also target senior commanders of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard
Corps (IRGC) in Iraq or Syria.

It is also possible that the US will attack inside Iran's borders, a move which
is considered the highest possible escalation that Mr Biden could take.

In New York, the Iranian envoy to the UN, Amir Saeed Iravani, warned that Iran
would "decisively respond to any attack on the country, its interests and
nationals under any pretexts", Iran's state news agency Irna reported.

He also denied reports that several messages had been exchanged between the US
and Iran via intermediaries over the past two days.

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Media caption,

Watch: "I'm still in shock," says mother of US soldier killed in drone attack

Iran has built a wide network of allied armed groups and proxies operating in
countries across the Middle East. They are all opposed to Israel and the US, and
sometimes refer to themselves as the "Axis of Resistance", though the extent of
Iran's influence over them is not clear.

The US says co-ordination is overseen by the IRGC and its overseas operations
arm, the Quds Force. Both are designated by the US as terrorist organisations,
as are a number of the regional armed groups, including Kataib Hezbollah.

The groups have dramatically stepped up their attacks against Israel, US forces
and other linked targets since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in
the Gaza Strip in October, in what they say is a demonstration of their
solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Many of the at least 165 drone, rocket and missile attacks on US bases in Iraq
and Syria, or facilities hosting US troops, since 17 October have been claimed
by an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias calling itself the Islamic
Resistance in Iraq.

In response, the US says it has struck targets belonging to the IRGC and
militias believed to have strong links with the force, including Kataib
Hezbollah, Harakat al-Nujaba and Asaib Ahl al-Haq.

Sunday's attack, which the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said it was behind, was
the first to kill US troops in the region since the start of the Gaza war.

Last month, the US said it carried out air strikes against Iran-affiliated
groups after three US service members were injured, one critically, in a drone
attack on a base in northern Iraq.

Earlier in January, a US strike in Baghdad killed a leader of Harakat al-Nujaba
who was accused of being behind attacks on US personnel.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said last week that strikes on three
facilities in Iraq belonging to Kataib Hezbollah and other groups were "in
direct response to a series of escalatory attacks" against US and other
international forces in Iraq and Syria.

David Gritten contributed to this article


RELATED TOPICS

 * Israel-Gaza war
 * Iran
 * Jordan
 * US politics
 * United States
 * Joe Biden


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