US air strike in Iraq as regional tensions worsen

The US carried out an air strike in Iraq on Tuesday that officials described as self-defence, as regional tensions rose after an Israeli air strike in Beirut that the occupation state said killed Hezbollah’s most senior commander, Reuters has reported.

Iraqi police and medical sources said that the strike inside a base south of Baghdad used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) killed four members of the group that contains several Iran-aligned armed militias, and wounded four others. In a statement after the blasts, the PMF made no allegation about who was responsible.

US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the United States carried out the air strike in Musayib, in Iraq’s Babil province, but did not provide more details on the location. The officials added that the strike targeted militants that the US deemed were looking to launch drones and posed a threat to US and coalition forces still in Iraq.

“This action underscores the United States’ commitment to the safety and security of our personnel,” said one of the officials. No comment was made about any casualties.

Iraq condemned the strike, with a military spokesman saying that the US-led military coalition committed a “heinous crime” by targeting security sites south of Baghdad and that the attack was a serious violation of the coalition’s mission and mandate.

Multiple rockets were launched toward Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase housing US-led forces last week, said US and Iraqi sources, with no damage or casualties reported. US officials said that none of the rockets hit the base.

Tuesday’s action was the first known US strike in Iraq since February, when the US military launched air strikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets alleged to be linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran-aligned militias.

The 150,000-strong PMF, a state-sanctioned grouping of Iraqi paramilitaries, is dominated by heavily armed and battle-hardened groups loyal to Iran and with close ties to the IRGC.

Iraq is a rare ally of both the US and Iran. It still hosts 2,500 US troops and has Iran-backed militias linked to its security forces. The country has witnessed escalating tit-for-tat attacks since the Israeli war against the Palestinians in Gaza erupted in October.

The government in Baghdad wants troops from the US-led military coalition to begin withdrawing in September and to formally end the coalition’s work by September 2025, Iraqi sources have said. Some US forces are likely to remain in a newly-negotiated advisory capacity.

The issue is highly politicised, with mainly Iran-aligned Iraqi political factions looking to show that they are again pushing out the country’s one-time occupier, while US officials want to avoid giving Iran and its allies a win of any kind.

US-led forces invaded Iraq in 2003, toppled former leader Saddam Hussein and then withdrew in 2011, only to return in 2014 to fight Islamic State at the head of a coalition.

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