US strikes hit Iraq militia blamed in contractor’s death

ELLEN KNICKMEYER and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. carried out military strikes in Iraq and Syria targeting a militia blamed for an attack that killed an American contractor, a Defense Department spokesman said Sunday. U.S. forces conducted "precision defensive strikes" against five sites of Kataeb Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, an Iran-backed Iraqi militia, spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. The U.S. blames the militia for a rocket barrage Friday that killed a U.S. defense contractor at a military compound near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq. Officials said attackers fired as many as 30 rockets in Friday's assault. The Defense Department gave no immediate details on how the strikes were conducted. It said the U.S. hit three of the militia
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