2024-02-03 11:56:00
Iraq says US strikes killed at least 16 people, including civilians
US airstrikes once morest Iraq on Friday killed at least 16 people, including civilians, and wounded 25 others, according to a statement from the Iraqi government spokesman.
The attacks in the area of Akashat and the city of Al-Qaim, near the border with Syria, included places “where our security forces are stationed, along with nearby civilian sites,” according to the government statement, which called it “aggression once morest the sovereignty of Iraq.”
Local authorities in Anbar province said the airstrikes targeted locations used by militias known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) or Hashad al Shaabi.
According to Rutba Mayor Emad Al-Dulaimi, the majority of those killed and injured in the Akashat area are PMU fighters.
Al-Qaim Mayor Turki Al-Mahalawi said the US airstrikes hit the Sikaka compound in Al-Qaim city, Anbar province, where the PMU have three houses that they use as weapons storage and Offices.
In 2016, the Iraqi Parliament passed a bill recognizing the PMU, a predominantly Shiite paramilitary force, as a government entity operating alongside the Iraqi army.
The US administration has always considered the PMU to be Iranian-backed militias and holds some of them responsible for carrying out attacks on US sites in Iraq and Syria.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the United States informed the Iraqi government of its plans before carrying out the attacks. But the Iraqi government has denied that claim, saying the United States is “misleading international public opinion.”
The US side “intentionally deceived and distorted the facts, claiming that there was coordination with the Iraqi authorities for the perpetration of this aggression, an unfounded claim created to deceive international public opinion and evade legal responsibility for this act.” convicted, (done) in violation of international law,” the statement said.
The government statement stated that such attacks “will push the security situation in Iraq and the region to the brink, jeopardizing ongoing efforts to establish necessary stability.”
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