WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States did not give pre-notification to Iraq ahead of strikes on Friday against three militant sites inside that country, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Monday, adding that Iraq was informed immediately after the strikes.

“Iraq, like every country in the region, understood that there would be a response after the deaths of our soldiers. As for this specific response on Friday, there was not a pre-notification. We informed the Iraqis immediately after the strikes occurred,” Patel told reporters.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday that the U.S. informed Iraq ahead of the strikes.

(Reporting by Simon Lewis, Costas Pitas and Daphne Psaledakis)