The United States on Thursday denied targeting Iraqi security forces, following an airstrike on an Iraqi army base in western Iraq that killed seven soldiers and wounded 13 others.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told Alhurra, “Any claims that the United States targeted Iraqi security forces are categorically false and inconsistent with the U.S.-Iraq partnership. They also misrepresent years of friendship and cooperation between American and Iraqi forces.”
The spokesperson added that the United States had “repeatedly requested, in recent weeks, that Iraqi authorities provide information on the locations of Iraqi security forces to enhance the safety of personnel on the ground who are not participating in attacks against the United States. However, the Iraqi government did not provide this information.”
Nevertheless, the spokesperson emphasized that the United States “remains ready to work with Iraqi authorities to defeat terrorism that militias allied with Iran seek to spread in Iraq and across the region.”
The remarks came as Iraq’s National Security Council on Tuesday authorized all security forces, including the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), “to act on the principle of the right to respond and defend themselves” against any attacks targeting their bases, whether by fighter jets or drones.
A member of Iraq’s National Security Council told Alhurra that the government’s decision to authorize all military units to respond to attacks means these forces will be granted broader authority to deal with any assault on their facilities.
The Iraqi authorities’ decision followed an attack on a PMF base in Anbar on Tuesday, which killed at least 15 fighters, including the PMF operations commander in the province.
The PMF comprises predominantly Shiite paramilitary factions that have been officially integrated into Iraq’s security forces and include several groups loyal to Iran.
The following day, an Iraqi army base in Al-Habbaniyah, western Iraq, was struck by an airstrike, followed by machine-gun fire from an aircraft, killing seven soldiers and wounding 13 others, according to the Iraqi Ministry of Defense on Wednesday.
The office of the Iraqi prime minister said in a Wednesday statement that the prime minister had directed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to summon the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Baghdad over attacks targeting “military sectors.”
On Tuesday, Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, for the first time, held the United States and Israel responsible for targeting the PMF in Anbar.
Since the U.S. and Israel began strikes on targets in Iran on February 28, Iraq has witnessed attacks by armed factions on U.S. targets, Iraqi military bases, and energy facilities, as well as civilian airports in Baghdad, Basra, and Erbil.
Conversely, bases belonging to those factions have come under airstrikes from unknown sources, with no party claiming responsibility. However, a defense official told Alhurra on March 9 that U.S. forces were carrying out strikes against Iran-aligned factions in Iraq.
The article is a translation of the original Arabic.
Ghassan Taqi
A journalist specializing in Iraqi affairs, he has worked with the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) since 2015. He previously spent several years with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as well as various Iraqi and Arab media outlets.
