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U.S. forces in the Middle East launched airstrikes against Iranian-backed militants in Iraq after a Christmas Day drone attack on troops stationed in northern Iraq.
The attack left three servicemen injured. One of the soldiers sustained critical injuries.
"My prayers are with the brave Americans who were injured," Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III said in a statement.
The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah claimed credit for the drone attack.
The U.S. airstrikes killed one militant and wounded 18 others. It also destroyed three facilities used by the group to launch attacks on U.S. forces in the region. There was no indication of civilian casualties.
President Joe Biden was spending Christmas at Camp David when the drone struck the Erbil air base in Iraq. He was briefed on the situation and ordered military officials to prepare plans for a retaliatory strike, which he authorized.
"These strikes are intended to hold accountable those elements directly responsible for attacks on coalition forces in Iraq and Syria and degrade their ability to continue attacks," General Michael Erik Kurilla of U.S. Central Command said in the statement. "We will always protect our forces."