US warplanes bombed a Hezbollah operations centre and a command and control hub near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, south of Baghdad, on Tuesday.
Washington said it was in retaliation for an attack on Al-Asad Air Base, western Iraq, that used short-range ballistic missiles for the first time. Officials could not confirm whether anyone was killed, but Hezbollah said eight militia members died.
READ MORE: Son of senior Hezbollah lawmaker killed in Israeli strike on Lebanon border
Kataib Hezbollah said it was considering “expanding the scope of targets” if the US military continued its strikes. It added Tuesday’s attack “will not go unpunished”.
The US jet raids followed initial retaliatory attacks from an AC-130 gunship. The plane was airborne when the militants fired two short-range ballistic rockets at the air base on Monday night. Officials said the crew fired on several fighters who had fled in a vehicle, killing some of them.
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The tit-for-tat strikes have escalated since militant group Islamic Resistance in Iraq and Syria began attacking US centres on October 17 – the day a blast killed hundreds at a Gaza hospital.
At least 66 rockets have been unleashed, wounding around 62 US service members.
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