A pro-Iran Iraqi fighter was killed in an attack near the Syrian border, with forces blaming a joint US and Israeli strike amid regional tensions.
ANBAR PROVINCE: An attack killed one Iraqi fighter from the Popular Mobilisation Forces near the Syrian border on Saturday. The PMF blamed the strike on a joint “Zionist-American” operation.
The statement said the attack also wounded four other PMF fighters and a member of Iraq’s defence ministry. It targeted a position of the 45th Brigade in western Anbar province.
This brigade belongs to the pro-Iran faction Kataeb Hezbollah, which is blacklisted by the US. Kataeb Hezbollah is part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq umbrella movement.
That group has claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and the region since the outbreak of the wider war. PMF positions have been repeatedly targeted during the conflict.
The PMF is a coalition of armed groups now integrated into Iraq’s regular army. It contains several powerful factions that are aligned with Iran and often act independently.
The Pentagon has acknowledged that helicopters have carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the war. Washington has consistently denied targeting official Iraqi security forces.
Iraq has been drawn into the regional conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. The country has seen strikes targeting both US interests and Iran-backed groups.