U.S. and coalition aircraft conducted retaliatory airstrikes on Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia group locations in Iraq on Thursday aftertwo U.S. troops were killedin a rocket attack a day earlier, the Defense Department announced.

The strikes come just hours after Pentagon leaders blamed Iranian-backed Shia militia groups and warned that the United States would respond to the deadly attack, which also killed a British service member and wounded 14 others. The airstrikes targeted five Kataib Hezbollah weapons facilities and were aimed at hurting their ability to conduct future attacks against U.S. and coalition forces, according to a Defense Department statement.

The targets included facilities that housed weapons used to target U.S. and coalition troops, according to DoD, which called the strikes "defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups."

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