Iraqi PM rejects US ‘lies’, says 16 people killed in ‘new aggression’

Sixteen people were killed, among them civilians, and 25 injured in overnight US airstrikes on on Iraq, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s office has said.

In a statement, it condemned the strikes as a “new aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty” and denied that they were coordinated by the Baghdad government beforehand with Washington, calling such assertions “lies”.

The presence of the US troops in the region “has become a reason for threatening security and stability in Iraq and a justification for involving Iraq in regional and international conflicts”, the statement added.

“These airstrikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty,” Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasool said in a statement earlier.

He noted that the actions taken by Washington will have “disastrous consequences for the security and stability of Iraq and the region”.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its military forces struck more than 85 targets in the two countries “with numerous aircraft to include long-range bombers flown from the United States”.

“The air strikes employed more than 125 precision munitions,” it added in a statement.