conflict On February 25, 2021, the United States military carried out an airstrike on a site which it believed to have been occupied by Iranian-backed Iraqi militias operating from across the border in eastern Syria.

On February 15, 2021, ten days before the airstrike, a rocket attack in the Iraqi city of Erbil killed an Operation Inherent Resolve coalition civilian contractor from the Philippines and injured six others, including one U.S.

[10][11] On February 20, 2021, another rocket attack targeted Balad Air Base in Iraq's Saladin Governorate, wounding one South African civilian contractor working for the U.S.-led coalition.

[16] U.S. defense and Biden administration officials publicly emphasized the "limited" nature of the operation, saying the strike was aimed at impeding the militias' abilities to conduct future attacks.

[21] Former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, "Mick" Mulroy, commented that the strikes were likely conducted in Syria rather than Iraq in order to avoid issues for the Iraqi government.