Officials in the U.S. and Israel recently said they did not launch an airstrike on a military base in Iraq. This comes after Israel struck Iran recently in a strike with contested results.
Several explosions occurred at a military base south of Baghdad, targeting militants supported by Iran.
Members of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) released a statement, acknowledging “an explosion that occurred at the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces at the Kalsu military base in the Al-Mashrou district on the highway, north of the Babylon Governorate.”
The PMU pointed out that an investigation took place after the attack, revealing that the explosion caused material losses and injuries.
“We will provide you with the details once the preliminary investigation is completed,” the PMU said.
Despite this, Israeli officials claimed the Jewish State was not involved in the incident. The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) also said the U.S. had no involvement.
“We are aware of reports claiming that the United States conducted airstrikes in Iraq today. Those reports are not true. The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,” CENTCOM wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
We are aware of reports claiming that the United States conducted airstrikes in Iraq today. Those reports are not true. The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) April 20, 2024
RedState noted that the Combined Joint Task Force overseeing Operation Inherent Resolve, which is an ongoing multinational mission to defeat the Islamic State (ISIS), also denied any U.S. involvement in the strikes against the Iraqi base.
The Iraqi government is currently investigating the attack which led to the death of one individual and countless injuries.
Prior to the attack, several PMU member groups carried out attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria, saying such attacks were because of the U.S. government’s support of Israel in the country’s ongoing war against Hamas, a terrorist organization. Such attacks ended in January 2024 following the deaths of three U.S. soldiers resulting from a strike on a base in Jordan.
Following the strikes in Jordan, the U.S. retaliated against Iraq.
The explosion at the PMU base came one day after a suspected Israeli strike in Iran.
An umbrella group of Iran-backed militias, which refers to itself as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said that it launched a drone attack against the Israeli Red Sea town of Eilat in response to what it called Israel’s “violation of Iraqi sovereignty in its treacherous targeting of the Popular Mobilization Forces camps.”
