Kata’ib Hezbollah warns US of direct confrontation if resistance groups targeted in Iraq

Iraq’s anti-terror group Kata’ib Hezbollah has warned American forces of "direct confrontation", saying its forces will take the US troops by surprise and deliver them a stinging blow if they launch attacks similar to air strikes in neighboring Syria against the positions of resistance forces in Iraq.

Abu Ali al-Askari, a senior security official with Kata'ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades), made the remarks in a statement on Sunday stating that they will directly attack US bases should they target Iraqi anti-terror groups’ positions.

“We reiterate once again that Kata’ib will directly target US bases across the region in case the US enemy commits a folly and decides to strike our resistance fighters and their camps [in Iraq],” he said.

The US military launched several air raids in Syria on Thursday night against the positions of resistance fighters that it blamed for a drone strike that purportedly killed an American contractor, wounded another, and also hurt five US troops.

The Pentagon said in a statement that the attack against US personnel took place at a base near Hasakah in northeast Syria at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time (1038 GMT) on Thursday.

According to the Pentagon, the attack was launched at the direction of President Joe Biden and targeted facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

However, local sources pointed out that the target was not an Iran-aligned military post as the US military claimed, but rather a rural development center and a grain center in Hrabash neighborhood, near Dayr al-Zawr military airport. No Iranian was killed in the act of aggression.

Askari also congratulated Syrian pro-government forces for their rocket attacks against the illegal bases of American forces in the country’s eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr.

He added that such moves are in line with Syrians’ efforts to reclaim their rights and the natural resources that are being pillaged by US occupation troops. Askari also said his comrades did not have any role in recent attacks against US military bases in eastern Syria.

Damascus blasts US strikes on Dayr al-Zawr as cover-up to steal more oil in eastern Syria

Syria strongly condemns the latest US military air strikes in the eastern parts of the Arab country, saying it is a cover-up for Washington’s continued looting of crude oil there.

On Friday, after the Pentagon carried out multiple airstrikes against Syrian troops, a military base housing US forces in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr came under a rocket attack.

local sources reported that ‏the rockets landed in the vicinity of the US-controlled al-Omar oil field at around 11 a.m. local time (0800 GMT), causing several explosions.

On Saturday, Iran's Arabic-language al-Alam television news network reported that more than 20 rockets had been fired against two illegal bases belonging to American occupation forces in eastern Syria.

The news channel specified the targets as American outposts based near the al-Omar oilfield and the Koniko natural gas field in Syria's Dayr al-Zawr province.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.ir