By Daphne Psaledakis and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States on Friday issued sanctions targeting Iran-aligned militia group Kata’ib Hizballah in Iraq, accusing the group of being behind recent attacks against the United States and its partners in Iraq and Syria.
U.S. and coalition troops have been attacked at least 58 times in Iraq and Syria since Oct. 17 as regional tensions soar over the Israel-Hamas war. At least 59 U.S. military personnel have been wounded in the attacks, though all have returned to duty so far.
The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement on Friday said it imposed sanctions on six people affiliated with Kata’ib Hizballah, which was previously designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the United States.
Among those targeted are a member of the group’s lead decision-making body, its foreign affairs chief and a military commander the Treasury said has worked with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to train fighters.
An official in the Quds Force, the arm of the IRGC that controls its allied militias in the region, who Washington said facilitates travel and training of Kata’ib Hizballah fighters in Iran, was also hit with sanctions.
“Today’s action sends a message to Kata’ib Hizballah and all other Iran-backed groups that the United States will use all available measures to hold to account any opportunistic actors who seek to exploit the situation in Gaza for their own ends,” the Treasury’s under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Brian Nelson, said in the statement.
“We remain fully committed to security and stability in the Middle East and are steadfast in our efforts to disrupt these destabilizing activities.”
The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets of those targeted and generally bar Americans from dealing with them. Those that engage in certain transactions with them also risk being hit with sanctions.
The United States has 900 troops in Syria, and 2,500 more in neighboring Iraq, to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swaths of both countries but was later defeated.
There is growing concern the Israel-Hamas conflict could spread through the Middle East, with U.S. troops at bases throughout the region becoming targets.
The United States has deployed additional air defenses and sent warships and fighter aircraft to the region since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on Oct. 7, including two aircraft carriers, to try to deter Iran and Iran-backed groups.
The number of troops added to the region is in the thousands.
Reuters has reported that the U.S. military was taking new measures to protect its Middle East forces during the ramp-up in attacks by suspected Iran-backed groups, and was leaving open the possibility of evacuating military families if needed.
The measures include increasing U.S. military patrols, restricting access to base facilities and boosting intelligence collection, including through drone and other surveillance operations, officials say.
(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis, Phil Stewart, Paul Grant and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jonathan Oatis)
