The al-Jazira Operations Command in the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) confirmed Wednesday that one of its Resistance fighters was martyred in a US attack that targeted the al-Qaim, west of Anbar, while a training facility was subjected to material damage in Jurf al-Nasr.

Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed on Tuesday that US military forces carried out, at President Joe Biden’s direction, what he called "necessary and proportionate" strikes on three Kataib Hezbollah and other Iraqi Resistance groups facilities in Iraq.

"These precision strikes are in direct response to a series of escalatory attacks against U.S. and Coalition personnel in Iraq and Syria," Austin mentioned in a release.

"We do not seek to escalate conflict in the region," but "are fully prepared to take further measures to protect our people and our facilities," the US defense chief added.

US Central Command claimed the strikes targeted Kataib Hezbollah "headquarters, storage, and training locations for rocket, missile, and one-way attack UAV (drone) capabilities."

U.S. Forces Strike Kataib Hezbollah Capabilities in Iraq
In response to attacks by the Iranian-backed militia group Kataib Hezbollah (KH), including the attack on al-Asad Airbase in western Iraq on Jan. 20, on Jan. 24 at 12:15 a.m. (Iraq time), U.S. CENTCOM forces conducted… pic.twitter.com/rSnbQdlRD4

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 23, 2024

Al Mayadeen's correspondent in Iraq reported that US airstrikes targeted positions of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in the town of al-Qaim on the Iraqi-Syrian border and in Jurf al-Nasr, north of Babil, south of Baghdad.

Our correspondent mentioned that the US forces carried out five airstrikes on Jurf al-Nasr, south of Baghdad.

Later, it was reported that intense rocket shelling targeted the US occupation base at the Conoco gas field in Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria.

Jaafar al-Husseini, the military spokesperson for the Iraqi Kataib Hezbollah, stressed that the Iraqi Resistance will continue to target enemy strongholds in support of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip until the cessation of the barbaric killing machine supported by the United States and the lifting of the siege on Gaza.

In the same context, the Secretary-General of the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades in Iraq, Abu Alaa al-Walai, confirmed that while the US forces continue to target the Iraqi Resistance, Iraqi fighters have, in the meantime, begun the second phase of their operations.

On X, al-Walai explained that the second phase includes imposing a blockade on Zionist maritime navigation in the Mediterranean Sea and disabling the ports of the Israeli occupation entity.

The Iraqi leader threatened to continue these measures until the unjust blockade on Gaza is lifted and the horrifying Zionist massacres against Gazans are halted.

This comes as earlier, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq announced in a statement that its fighters targeted the Ain al-Assad US occupation base in Iraq's Anbar province twice in two separate operations on Tuesday.

The group confirmed that these attacks were in continuation of the Resistance against the US occupation in Iraq and the region and in response to the Israeli occupation entity's massacres against the people of Gaza.

Since October 17, the Iraqi Resistance has carried out 151 attacks on US occupation bases in Syria and Iraq, resulting in the injury of over 70 American soldiers.

In a significant operation, the Islamic Resistance struck the Ain al-Assad base last Saturday with 10 heavy rockets, in what was described as the largest and most intense attack against a US occupation base since the group launched its operations in support of Gaza last October.

Read more: Islamic Resistance in Iraq targets the port of 'Ashdod' with drones