The US military has carried out "defensive strikes" in Iraq and Syria against Kataib Hezbollah, the US Defense Department announced on Sunday. The Pentagon said it targeted three locations of the Iranian-backed group in Iraq and two in Syria. The locations included weapons storage facilities and command and control locations the group had used to plan and execute attacks on coalition forces, it said. The United States had accused the group of the 30-plus rocket attack on Friday that killed a US civilian contractor and injured four US service members and two members of the Iraqi Security Forces near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. "In response to repeated Kataib Hizbollah attacks on Iraqi bases that host Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) coalition forces, US forces have conducted precision defensive strikes," chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said in a statement. He added that the US trikes will weaken the groups ability to carry out future attacks on Americans and their Iraqi government allies. In Iraq, several Iraqi fighters were killed on Sunday in an air strike on their headquarters near the western Qaim district on the border with Syria, military sources and militia commanders told Reuters. The strike was likely carried out by drones and targeted Kataib Hezbollah, the sources said. Ambulances were heading to the area. Three fighters’ bodies, including one of a local commander, had so far arrived at a field hospital near Qaim, an Iraqi army officer said. Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iranian-backed forces for a series of attacks on bases in Iraq and warned Iran that any attacks by Tehran or proxies that harmed Americans or allies would be "answered with a decisive US response."