BAGHDAD (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2021) The recent US airstrike in eastern Syria has not resulted in any casualties, as the strike hit a warehouse, Kataa al-Rikabi, a member of the security and defense committee in the Iraqi parliament, told Sputnik on Friday, describing the move a "reprehensible act."
Earlier in the day, Iran's state-run media reported that the airstrike resulted in the death of 17 people.
"The strike was launched on an empty site. It targeted a warehouse, while they [the US forces] believed it to be a location for the [Popular] Mobilization Forces [PMF]. Thank God, there were no victims," al-Rikabi said.
"We condemn this attack. The mobilization forces are regular Iraqi troops, which are linked to the Iraqi government. No distinction should be made between the security forces and the PMF ... Therefore, this attack represents a reprehensible and intolerable act, and the US troops should behave rationally regarding this matter," al-Rikabi added.
Late on Thursday, the Defense Department said that the US had targeted the infrastructure used by Iranian-backed militias - including Kait'ib Hezbollah and Kait'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada - in eastern Syria. Washington added that the strike was conducted in retaliation for the February 15 rocket attack on the Erbil Air Base in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Syrian state-run media on Friday called the airstrike aggression.
