By Tim Stelloh and Courtney Kube - NBC News
US military forces carried out what a Pentagon official called "defensive airstrikes" in Iraq and Syria on Sunday against Iran-backed militia groups.
US officials claimed that these militias
were behind several drone attacks on US personnel
in the region.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement that the airstrikes were targeting weapons storage and operational facilities at two locations in Syria and one in Iraq.
Historic visit of Pope Francis to Iraq concludes
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The facilities were used by at least two militias,
Kata'ib Hezbollah and Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada
, Kirby said.
Kirby added that President Joe Biden, who authorized the attacks, "ordered more military action to disrupt and deter" future attacks against US personnel in Iraq.
The US response is "ongoing,"
Kirby said.
The president, Joe Biden, and the first lady, Jill Biden, after getting off the Marine One helicopter on June 27, 2021.
"We are in Iraq at the invitation of the Government of Iraq for the sole purpose of assisting the Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to defeat ISIS," Kirby said, referring to the terrorist group known as the Islamic State.
"The United States took the necessary, appropriate and deliberate measures designed to limit the risk of escalation, but also to send a clear and unequivocal deterrent message," the official added.
[This is how the historic meeting of Pope Francis with Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Iraq went]
The airstrikes come as the Biden Administration considers lifting sanctions on Iran,
in an effort to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, which was negotiated under the Obama Administration and sought to reduce Iran's uranium enrichment capacity.
Former President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal three years ago, arguing that he was leaning in favor of Iran.
The Trump Administration also imposed damaging sanctions on that Middle Eastern nation.
The Pentagon seen from the air in a 2008 file photo.Reuters
US forces carried out airstrikes earlier this year against the same Iranian-backed militias that the Pentagon said
were behind a rocket attack in northern Iraq
.
In that attack, a Filipino contractor working with a US-led military coalition was killed and six other people were injured, including a Louisiana National Guard soldier and four US contractors.