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The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it had summoned the U.S. ambassador to Iraq over U.S. airstrikes against the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces in western Iraq and near Baghdad airport that killed an Iranian commander and a commander of Hashd Shaabi.
During the meeting with Matthew Tueller, Abdul-Karim Hashim Mustafa, undersecretary of the foreign ministry, confirmed Iraq's "condemnation of the act which represents a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of Iraq and all international norms and laws governing relations between states," according to a ministry statement.
"The attacks violate the agreed tasks of the international coalition, which is limited to combating Islamic State (IS) and training Iraqi security forces," the statement said.
The ministry "considers these unlawful military operations by the United States aggression and a condemned act which is increasing tension in the region."
Late last year, the U.S. forces bombarded headquarters of Hashd Shaabi's 45th and 46th Brigades, leaving 25 killed and 51 injured.
A U.S. military statement said U.S. forces attacked on Dec. 29 five bases of Kata'ib Hezbollah (KH) in Iraq and Syria in response to repeated attacks by KH against U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq.
Early on Friday, a U.S. drone attack ordered by President Donald Trump killed Qassem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi forces near Baghdad International Airport.
Over 5,000 U.S. troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces in the battles against IS militants, mainly providing training and advising to the Iraqi forces.
