By Our Correspondent
National News – At least 21 security personnel were killed in separate deadly strikes in Iraq on Tuesday, as tensions linked to the ongoing regional war involving the United States, Israel, and Iran escalated.
The attacks, which occurred in western Iraq and the autonomous Kurdistan region, were blamed on the United States and Iran respectively, according to Iraqi military authorities.
The deadliest incident happened in Anbar Province, western Iraq, where an airstrike targeted a base used by the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), also known as Hashed al-Shaabi.
Officials said the strike killed 15 members of the coalition, including a senior provincial commander.
PMF leaders accused the United States of carrying out what they described as a “treacherous attack” on their operational headquarters near the Syrian border.
The strike occurred overnight in an area historically used for operations against the Islamic State insurgency.
The PMF, originally formed in 2014 to support Iraqi forces against the extremist group, later became part of Iraq’s official security structure and maintains strong ties with several Iran-backed factions.
Meanwhile, a separate ballistic missile strike in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region killed six members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces and wounded at least 30 others.
Kurdish authorities said the attack involved six Iranian ballistic missiles and condemned it as a hostile act by Iran.
The Kurdish defence ministry stated that the missiles struck a Peshmerga position, marking the first deadly missile attack in Kurdistan since the regional war began.
Although the Kurdish leadership has maintained close relations with Washington, it has also attempted to remain neutral in the widening conflict involving Iran.
The broader war began on February 28 after joint strikes by Israel and the United States targeted Iranian positions, triggering retaliatory attacks across several parts of the Middle East.
Since then, pro-Iran armed groups have launched drone and rocket attacks on American interests across the region, while the US military has carried out retaliatory strikes against militia positions.
Last week, the Pentagon confirmed that American combat helicopters had attacked pro-Iran militias in Iraq during the ongoing conflict.
Iraqi political leaders and PMF officials have urged the government to confront what they called repeated violations of Iraq’s sovereignty as tensions continue to escalate.
