One day after the rocket strike on a military base in Iraq that killed a UK soldier and two Americans, the U.S. conducted an airstrike against the militant groups. A defense official has commented that the strikes were carried out by a manned aircraft and the targets included weapons storage facilities. The Iranian-sponsored Shia militia group, Kata’ib Hezbollah, was the target of these airstrikes. “These strikes were defensive, proportional, and in direct response to the threat posed by Iranian-backed Shia militia groups (SMG) who continue to attack bases hosting OIR coalition forces,” commented an official.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/12/politics/coalition-airstrikes-retaliation-iraq/index.html