By Ahmed Rasheed and Muayad Hameed
BAGHDAD, March 24 (Reuters) – Airstrikes hit a regional headquarters of Iraq’s umbrella group for Iran-backed Shi’ite militias and a home used by its leader on Tuesday, killing at least 15 fighters in an escalation of U.S.-Israeli strikes on one of Tehran’s main regional allies.
At least 30 other people were wounded in the strikes on the Popular Mobilization Forces’ site in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, according to medical officials. They said some were in serious condition and the death toll could rise.
Iraq’s military accused the U.S. and Israel of carrying out the strikes. Reuters filmed ambulances bringing the wounded to hospital in the regional capital Ramadi during the night.
The dead included the PMF’s operations commander in the province, Saad al-Baiji. Later on Tuesday, a large crowd of angry mourners carried his coffin and portraits through the streets of Baghdad.
Two security sources said the strikes had hit the PMF site during a meeting attended by senior commanders.
A separate airstrike hit a residence belonging to the PMF’s leader Falih al-Fayadh in the northern city of Mosul. He was not present and uses the home only during visits to the city, according to the two security sources. A PMF statement said its office in the city was destroyed and one fighter wounded there.
The strikes pose a political challenge for Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al‑Sudani, who seeks to maintain the support both of Washington and of factions in the Shi’ite-majority country that are aligned with Iran.
Iraq’s National Security Council has authorised the PMF to exercise the right of self-defence and respond to any attacks targeting their positions.
The move increases the risk that PMF factions will retaliate, potentially triggering a cycle of attacks and counter-attacks with the U.S. as regional conflict escalates.
This risks Iraq becoming a direct arena for confrontation, making it far harder for Sudani to maintain his fragile balance between Iran and Washington.
Separately, Iraqi military spokesman Sabah al-Numan said in a statement the foreign ministry would summon the U.S. and Iranian envoys to protest attacks on PMF locations in various provinces and the headquarters of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters in Erbil.
A military statement said the 15 PMF fighters were killed in a “U.S.-Zionist airstrike”, the first time Iraq’s military has blamed Israel alongside the United States for bombing the PMF.
The PMF, known in Arabic as Hashd al-Shaabi, is an umbrella group of mostly Shi’ite paramilitary factions that was formally integrated into Iraq’s state security forces and includes several groups aligned with Iran.
Tehran-backed armed groups have launched attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and the U.S. embassy since the United States and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.
Washington has had an influential presence in Baghdad since its 2003 invasion that overthrew dictator Saddam Hussein, a Sunni Muslim, and replaced him with Shi’ite-led governments friendly with Iran.
The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has spilled across Iran’s borders, with Tehran launching strikes on Israel and Gulf Arab states hosting U.S. military installations, while Israel has carried out attacks in Lebanon following cross-border fire by Iran-aligned Hezbollah.
(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Muayad Hameed; Additional reporting by Enas Alashray, Yomna Ehab and Menna Alaa El-Din; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Peter Graff and Cynthia Osterman)
Disclaimer: This report is auto generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.