Summary:

• Sixteen people were killed, among them civilians, and 25 injured in overnight U.S. airstrikes on pro-Iran targets in Iraq

CAIRO, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Sixteen people were killed, among them civilians, and 25 injured in overnight U.S. airstrikes on pro-Iran targets in Iraq, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office said on Saturday.

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 U.S.-led military coalition 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.

Reporting by Timur Azhari, Enas Alashray, Adam Makary; editing by Mark Heinrich