RIYADH — Saudi Arabia condemned attacks launched last week by Iran-backed militias against US forces in Iraq, reported the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) on Tuesday.

“The Kingdom was following with “deep concern” the rising number of terrorist attacks in Iraq that seek to undermine its security and stability,” an official sources was quoted by SPA as saying.

The latest of such assaults was the one launched by “terrorist militias backed by Iran against American forces deployed in Iraq as part of the international coalition to defeat the ISIS terrorist group,” the news agency reported quoting the same source.

The attack near Kirkuk on Dec. 27 prompted “defensive measures” against the terrorist groups that launched the strike, it added.

The source stressed that Saudi Arabia condemns these terrorist attacks that violate Iraq’s sovereignty, security and stability and directly impact counterterrorism efforts.

It called for cooperation between the Iraqi government and coalition forces to investigate the Dec. 27 attack and take the appropriate measures to put an end to such hostile acts by Iran-backed groups.

The US military carried out air strikes on Sunday against the Kataib Hezbollah militia in response to the killing of a US civilian contractor in a Friday rocket attack on an Iraqi military base, officials said. — SG with inputs from SPA