Iraq investigates a blast at a base of Iran-allied militias that killed 1, US denies involvement
Baghdad: Iraqi authorities said Saturday that they were investigating an explosion that struck a base belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias, killing one person and injuring eight. Militia officials had initially described the explosion at the Kalsu military base north of Babylon — a former US base that was handed over to the Iraqi military in 2011 — as an airstrike, blaming it on US forces. The US Central Command denied in a statement that it had carried out any airstrikes in Iraq.
The PMF in a statement Saturday afternoon described the blast as an “attack" but did not blame any specific party. ALSO READ: Iran-Israel war LIVE updates Iraq's Security Media Cell said the country's air defense command had not detected any drones or fighter plane in the airspace of Babylon before or during the explosion. It said one PMF member died and eight people were injured, including an Iraqi army soldier.
The PMF is a coalition of primarily Shiite, Iran-backed armed groups designated as an “independent military formation" within the Iraqi armed forces. ALSO READ: Iran warns Israel, 'Our next response will be at maximum level if...' In recent months, some of the PMF member groups launched attacks on US forces based in Iraq and Syria, which they said was in retaliation for Washington's support of Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Those attacks halted at the end of January after three US soldiers were killed in a strike on a base in Jordan, near the Syrian border, prompting US retaliatory strikes in Iraq.
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