NEW: US airstrikes have hit sites linked to Iran in Iraq and Syria in response to a series of rocket attacks on coalition bases in the last 2 months, US officials say.
Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve, which is tasked with fighting the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, said coalition troops were using the base.
The repeated strikes have raised concerns among American military leaders, who began preparing response options earlier this month. The officials said that Iranian-backed militias with links to that country's elite Quds Force were likely behind the attacks. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper briefed President Donald Trump on Saturday afternoon on the proposed military response, which included F15Es dropping precision-guided bombs, on Saturday afternoon. The strikes required presidential approval.In a separate series of strikes, U.S. Africa Command said Sunday that it targeted two sites used by al-Shabab militants in Somalia, killing four people it identified as terrorists.in the country’s capital killed 78 people and injured 125.
No one has claimed responsibility in the attack, but The Associated Press reported that the al-Qaida-linked group has often carried out similar bombings, including one in October 2017 that killed 500 people.Courtney Kube is a correspondent covering national security and the military for the NBC News Investigative Unit.
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