The Popular Mobilisation Forces say two fighters were killed in air strikes on positions in Nineveh and at a military airport in Salah al-Din. The PMF blamed Israel and the United States as Iraq becomes more entangled in the US–Israeli conflict with Iran. A separate drone strike caused a fire at the Umm Qasr naval base near the Kuwait border. Pro-Iranian Kataib Hezbollah announced a conditional five-day pause on attacks against the US embassy, warning it could resume if conditions are violated.
Airstrikes Kill Two PMF Fighters in Northern Iraq; Drone Strike Sparks Fire at Umm Qasr
Iraqi PMF fighters on the Iraq-Syria border in Nineveh, Iraq [File: Martyn Aim/Getty Images]
Air strikes have killed two fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in northern Iraq, the paramilitary group said, reporting the losses from one of the many fronts in the wider Middle East conflict.
The PMF said the strikes hit its positions early on Thursday in Nineveh province, where the city of Mosul is located, and struck a military airport in Salah al-Din province. The group — predominantly Shia and integrated into Iraq's security apparatus — includes several factions aligned with Iran.
Who Is Being Blamed
The PMF blamed Israel and the United States for the strikes. Iraq has increasingly been drawn into the US–Israeli confrontation with Iran, now entering its third week, with attacks and counter-attacks reported across the region.
Other Developments
Separately, a drone crashed into a water treatment unit at the Umm Qasr naval base in southern Iraq, near the Kuwait border, igniting a fire. Footage circulating on social media and verified by Al Jazeera showed flames and smoke rising from the site.
Hours before the strikes that killed the two PMF fighters, the pro-Iranian armed group Kataib Hezbollah said its secretary-general had 'issued orders to suspend operations targeting the US embassy in Baghdad for a period of five days'.
Kataib Hezbollah, designated by Washington as a 'terrorist organisation', set conditions for the suspension, including a demand that Israel halt bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut and a 'commitment to refrain from bombing residential areas in Baghdad and other provinces'. The group warned that any violation would prompt an immediate response and signalled it could resume strikes after the five-day period.
Security Context
The US embassy in Baghdad's Green Zone and a US diplomatic and logistics facility at Baghdad International Airport — which houses military personnel — have been periodically targeted by drones and rockets in recent days. Iraqi and coalition air defences have intercepted most incoming projectiles.
Background: The Popular Mobilisation Forces were formed in 2014 as volunteer units supporting Iraqi security forces in the fight against ISIL (ISIS). Recent air strikes have focused on Iran-backed factions, which in turn have claimed near-daily attacks on US interests inside Iraq and across the region.
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