An explosion early Saturday at a base used by the Iranian-backed armed group Harakat al Nujaba in Iraq’s Babylon province killed one person and wounded eight others, Iraq’s joint military command said.
In a carefully worded statement, the Iraqi military did not attribute the explosion to a missile or drone strike. “The Air Defense Command confirms that there were no drones or fighter jets in the airspace of Babylon Province before and during the explosion,” the statement said.
However, military officials said privately that at least one shell appeared to have hit the perimeter of the Karsu base. Video taken shortly after the incident and posted on social media showed damaged buildings and a large crater filled with rubble. A second video showed several parts of the base on fire.
The base is used by multiple elements of the Iraqi security forces, including the Iraqi army and police and Iraqi government forces, according to the Iraqi Joint Command. popular mobilization poweror PMF, an umbrella organization.
The PMF includes some brigades backed by Iran. Harakat al Nujaba, who is stationed at the base, has been involved in attacks on U.S. facilities in Iraq and Syria.Recently it has Join other Iranian-backed forces in Syria and Lebanon Attack Israeli territory.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strike.
The US military, which has carried out strikes against Iranian-backed armed groups in Iraq in the past, said in a statement The company issued a statement shortly after the attack saying it was not involved in attacks on locations in Iraq. The Israeli military declined to comment.
The explosion occurred a day later Israel attacks a military air base According to two Israeli and three Iranian officials, the incident occurred near the city of Isfahan in central Iran. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Friday’s attack appeared to be Israel’s first military response to a massive Iranian drone and missile attack on Israeli territory nearly a week ago.
Falih Hassan from Baghdad.
