US airstrikes live – Iraq condemns retaliatory attacks on targets as ‘blatant aggression’

The Iraqi government has warned that the Middle East is “on the brink of the abyss” after retaliatory US airstrikes reportedly killed dozens of soldiers and civilians.

On Friday, the US carried out strikes on 85 targets at seven facilities in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone attack at a remote base in Jordan that killed three American service members and injured around 40 others on 28 January.

The US strikes killed almost 40 people, according to a Reuters report. Shortly after the attack, Iraqi government spokesperson Bassem Al-Awadi warned that the attacks risked destabilizing the entire Middle East.

The General Command of the Jordanian Armed Forces denied involvement in the recent US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria.

In a statement published by the Jordanian News Agency, an official of the Armed Forces “dismissed the allegations as unfounded, emphasizing the Jordanian army’s respect for Iraq’s sovereignty and highlighting the enduring fraternal ties between the Kingdom and other Arab states.”

It contradicts claims made in press reporters earlier in the day, Dana Zureikat Daoud – a spokesperson for the Jordanian Embassy in DC – said on X.

Amid conflicting reports from Iraqi government officials and US government officials, a senior administrator told NBC News that Iraq did in fact receive warnings of American airstrikes prior to the action.

Though the US did not give Iraq a “huge heads up” they said it would be inaccurate to claim Iraq did not know beforehand.

Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia’ Al Sudani, previously said the US’s claim that they notified Iraq beforehand was “lies.”

The US military on Friday struck Iran-backed militants and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan.

The US Central Command said American forces struck more than 85 targets at seven locations in both Middle Eastern countries using bombers and precision munitions, just hours after President Joe Biden received the remains of the three service members.

Alisha Rahaman Sarkar reports:

The airstrikes the US launched in Syria near the Iraq border killed an undetermined number of civilians along with soldiers, the Syrian state media said.

At least 18 members of the Iran-backed militias have been killed in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The US struck 26 sites in Syria connected to the Iranian-back militias overnight.

The Syrian defense ministry called the US’s attack “blatant air aggression.”

An official from an Iranian-backed militia hinted at the desire to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East after the US launched retaliatory strikes in Iraq and Syria following the death of three American soldiers.

Hussein al-Mosawi, a spokesperson for Harakat al-Nujaba, one of the main Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, told The Associated Press that, “we do not wish to escalate or widen regional tensions.”

Mr Mosawi said that the targeted sites the US was striking in Iraq were “devoid of fighters and military personnel” but that “every action elicits a reaction.”

The US Central Command has released a video of a B-1 bomber taking off from the runway just as the military announced it was launching airstrikes against Ira-backed militias in retaliation for an attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan.