BAGHDAD: Iraq’s leaders condemned Monday an alleged Israeli strike that killed one paramilitary fighter and severely wounded another near the country’s western border with Syria.
The attack on Sunday hit a position near the border town of Al-Qaim held by Brigade 45, a unit belonging to the powerful Hashed Al-Shaabi paramilitary force.
Iraq’s President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi called the strikes an “attack on Iraqi sovereignty” and called for national unity.
Earlier, the military said Monday it has launched an investigation into the attack, the latest mysterious blast targeting Iran-backed armed factions.
“An investigation is ongoing now to determine what happened with the strike,” Iraq’s military spokesman Yehya Rasool told AFP.
The Hashed blamed Israel on Sunday, saying Israeli drones targeted the position with US air cover.
“As part of the string of Zionist attacks on Iraq, the evil Israeli crows have returned to target the Hashed Al-Shaabi, this time with two drones inside Iraqi territory,” the statement said.
The attack killed Kazem Mohsen, Brigade 45’s “logistical support chief” and a member of its rocket squad, also known by his nom de guerre Abu Ali Al-Dabi.
Hundreds mourned at a funeral procession for him in Baghdad on Monday morning, including Ahmad Assadi, a member of parliament and spokesman for the Hashed’s parliamentary bloc “Fatah.”
“We will work in the coming days to hold an emergency parliamentary meeting to discuss this issue and take the appropriate decisions,” he said in a video published by the Hashed.
The attack was the latest in a string of blasts and drone sightings at Hashed bases across Iraq, for which no one has claimed responsibility.
The Iraqi government has carried out investigations into some of those incidents, blaming an unidentified drone for at least one and saying another was a “premeditated” act without making specific accusations.
Meanwhile, a powerful bloc in Iraq’s parliament is calling for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq following the series of airstrikes.
The Fatah Coalition said on Monday it holds the United States fully responsible for this Israeli aggression, “which we consider to be a declaration of war on Iraq and its people.”
The coalition is a parliament bloc representing Iran-backed paramilitary militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces.
The statement adds that US troops are no longer needed in Iraq.
(With AP and AFP)
