Airstrikes against a base belonging to Iraq’s Popular Mobilization
Forces (PMF), the Shi’ite militia group that is part of Iraq’s military,
have reportedly killed several people on Monday morning. Particularly noteworthy is that the base was in Abu Kamal, a Syrian border town.
Details are still emerging, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
reported that the attacks were carried out by “unidentified warplanes.”
Immediate speculation was that this was an Israeli attack.
That would be in keeping with recent Israeli attacks on the PMF inside
Iraq, and Israeli claims that the base was “Iranian” last week. Media
reports continued to brand this an “Iranian” base, despite the fighters
clearly being with the Iraqi government.
The PMF has blamed both Israel and the US for recent attacks, and some
militia members have called for moves against US forces inside Iraq out
of retaliation, since they’re actually present and reachable, while
Israeli forces are not.
Several Said Killed in Strikes Against Iraqi Militia at Syria Border Base
Unidentified warplanes blamed, Israel suspected
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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