A U.S. military AC-130J Ghostrider attacked an Iran-backed militant group after the group used a ballistic missile to attack U.S. and coalition troops at Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary said today.
The ballistic missile attack resulted in minor injuries to U.S. and coalition forces and minor damage to the facility’s infrastructure, Sabrina Singh said during a briefing at the Pentagon.
“Immediately after the attack, a U.S. AC-130 military aircraft conducted a self-defense strike in the area against an Iranian-backed militia vehicle and a number of Iranian-backed militiamen who were involved in that attack,” she said. “This self-defense attack resulted in some enemy casualties.”
Singh said the AC-130 gunship was able to respond so quickly because it was already airborne at the time of the missile attack.
“We were able to identify the origin of these attacks because an AC-130 was already deployed in the area and was therefore able to respond,” Singh said. “They were able to intervene because they saw the militants. They were able to keep an eye on the movement of these militants as they got into their vehicles and that is why they were able to respond.”
Since Oct. 17, U.S. forces have been attacked 66 times in both Iraq and Syria, Singh said. She also said this was the first time a ballistic missile similar to that used in this attack was used.
Since those attacks began in October, the U.S. has carried out three more strikes, Singh said. However, these attacks were pre-planned and targeted specific facilities and infrastructure known to be used by militias affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. This latest U.S. response was different in that it was unplanned.
“These groups have targeted our armed forces [in] Both in Iraq and Syria,” Singh said. “We feel at the moment that we have taken appropriate action to decimate some of their facilities and some of their weapons… We always reserve the right to respond at a time and place of our choosing.”