Drone strikes targeting PMF base in Babil leave casualties

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Drone strikes targeted a base belonging to the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq’s Babil province late Tuesday, resulting in several casualties.

The PMF announced in a statement in the early hours of Wednesday that around 9:30 pm Tuesday, “forces belonging to Brigade 47 … stationed in the Jurf al-Nasr [formerly Jurf al-Sakhr] sector, the al-Sa’idat area, were subjected to an explosion of unknown nature. The incident resulted in several casualties.”

The PMF announced later that the attack “was carried out by missiles launched from drones,” without making any accusations.

AFP reported, citing a PMF official on the condition of anonymity, that “four or five missiles” hit the base, adding that that four fighters were killed in the strike.

The death toll is expected to rise, according to the AFP source.

Officials from the Iraqi government have yet to comment on the strike.

Although the PMF did not officially point fingers at any specific party for the attack, media affiliated with the paramilitary force have blamed the US for the deadly strike.

The attack comes days after several rockets were reportedly launched at the Ain al-Asad base, which houses US troops, in Iraq’s western Anbar province, without causing any damage.

A “logistic support depot” of the PMF exploded in southern Baghdad without casualties on July 18, and in April, an overnight explosion at the Kalsu military base, which houses PMF fighters, killed one and injured several others.

The PMF was targeted by US retaliatory airstrikes earlier this year after they were blamed for a drone strike that killed three American soldiers in a base in Jordan.

Attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria were more frequent from October 2023 to February, following the start of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip against Palestinian Hamas. The attacks were claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a network of shadow Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran.

In January, US overnight airstrikes on facilities of pro-Iran armed groups, mainly Kataib Hezbollah, near Anbar province’s Qaim district and Babil’s Jurf al-Nasr, killed one fighter. The US said the strikes were a “direct response” to a missile strike by the pro-Iran groups on Ain al-Asad base.

Since then, attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria have largely stopped.

Washington’s strikes drew strong condemnation from the Iraqi government, with Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s military spokesperson describing them as “unacceptable” and a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, calling on the international community to prevent aggressions against the country’s stability.