Iraq condemns US airstrikes on borders areas

(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) BAGHDAD, June 28 (KUNA) -- The Iraqi armed forces Monday condemned US airstrikes on positions on Iraq-Syrian borders, terming them "a rejected blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty."We condemn the American air attacks last night that targeted a position on the Iraq-Syrian borders, which are a rejected blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty and Iraq's national security by all international conventions," Major-General Yahya Rasool, armed forces spokesman, said in a statement.Iraq, he affirmed, is not a place to settle scores nor a launchpad for attacks on countries.Rasool called for restraint and said Iraq would take necessary measures to prevent recurrence of these violations.Meanwhile, a local Iraqi militia said four of its elements were killed in the US airstrike on a weapons' depot on the borders.Sayyed Al-Shuhada Brigades, which operates under Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi forces and known as Brigade 14, confirmed in a statement the killing of four members.Syria also announced that a child was killed and three civilians injured in the airstrike in the far eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.US military forces conducted "defensive precision airstrikes" against facilities in the Iraq-Syria border region at President Joe Biden's direction, the Pentagon announced.Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said in a statement "the targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq." The US strikes specifically targeted operational and weapons storage facilities at two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq, both of which lie close to the border between those countries, Kirby added. (end) ahh.bs MENAFN28062021000071011013ID1102355054