"The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is, & has been for hours, SAFE! Many of our great Warfighters, together with the most lethal military equipment in the world, was immediately rushed to the site. Thank you to the President & Prime Minister of Iraq for their rapid response upon request," he said.
He warned that Iran would be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities and added: "They will pay a very big price! This is not a Warning, it is a Threat."
On 29 December 2019, the United States bombed the headquarters of of Kata'eb Hezbollah. The airstrikes targeted three Kata'eb Hezbollah locations in Iraq near Al-Qaim, and two in Syria, and included weapons depots and command posts. The attack was carried out on the pretext of retaliation after a barrage of over 30 rockets were fired towards the K-1 two days earlier and other attacks on bases with US forces in Iraq. The earlier attack killed a US contractor and wounded several Iraqi and US soldiers. Iraq's Health Ministry reported that 28 people were killed and 48 wounded in the attack.
In response to the American bombing of the Kata'ib Hezbollah headquarters, protesters attacked the US embassy in the Green Zone in Baghdad on 31 December 2019. Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, Kata'eb Hezbollah commander, was also among the the protesters. (ILKHA)