ANNOUNCE: This is CNN breaking news.</s>SAVIDGE: News just into CNN. U.S. forces have conducted strikes in Iraq and Syria against five facilities tied to an Iran-backed militia blamed for a series of attacks on joint U.S.-Iraqi military facilities housing American forces. CNN White House reporter Sarah Westwood is in West Palm Beach. And, Sarah, what have we learned?</s>SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, Assistant Secretary of Defense Jonathan Hoffman today announced what the Pentagon is describing as precision defensive strikes against targets associated with an Iran-backed militia that the U.S. has blamed for a series of attacks on Iraqi bases, the most recent of which was Friday. That strike on a base in Iraq killed an American civilian contractor, injured four other American service members. Now the Pentagon said it hit five targets associated with this group. Three in Iraq and two in Syria. The Pentagon saying that those targets included a weapons storage facility and command locations that were used to plan and execute attacks on bases that house coalition forces. Now this is the first significant retaliation that the U.S. has taken against this group again that the U.S. says it's associated with Iran. The Pentagon describing these as defensive, but make no mistake, this is clearly a sign of things getting stepped up in Iraq against this group that has ties to the Iranians.</s>SAVIDGE: All right. Sarah Westwood, giving us the latest information on these airstrikes that were conducted in Iraq and Syria. We'll be right back with more.
U.S. Strikes 5 Facilities in Iraq and Syria Linked to Iranian-Backed Militia