A ” bombing raid “ hit, on the night of Friday April 19 to Saturday April 20, a military base located in central Iraq housing army troops and former pro-Iran paramilitary units of the Popular Mobilization (Hachd Al-Chaabi ), integrated into the regular forces, reported two security sources.
Questioned by Agence France-Presse (AFP), a military official and an official from the Ministry of the Interior were unable to identify the author of this aerial bombardment which targeted the Calso base, in the Babylon province (center), nor to say if it was a drone strike.
“The United States did not carry out airstrikes in Iraq today”, for its part reacted the American military command for the Middle East (Centcom) on X, shortly after this announcement. Questioned by AFP, the Israeli army assured “do not comment on information appearing in foreign media”.
An official at the Iraqi Interior Ministry initially reported an assessment “one dead and eight injured”. Hachd Al-Chaabi, for their part, confirmed in a press release “injured” and “material losses”. They reported a ” blast “ having touched the premises of the base and specified that a “preliminary investigation” had been opened and investigators dispatched to the site.
Explosive regional context
For his part, an Iraqi military official reported three wounded among the army personnel. “There are explosions in the warehouses housing the equipment due to the bombinghe said, speaking on condition of anonymity. A fire is still ravaging certain sectors of the base and the search for the injured continues. »
This bombing, which was not immediately claimed, comes in an explosive regional context, fueled by the war in Gaza which pits Israel against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, each supported by regional or international allies.
Strikes, attributed to Israel, targeted an area located near a military base in the Isfahan region early Friday in Iran. And on April 13, Tehran carried out an unprecedented attack combining drones and missiles against Israel, in what was presented as a response to the destruction of the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which had cost the lives of seven of its soldiers, including two senior officers. , 1er april.
The Popular Mobilization units are an integral part of the official Iraqi security apparatus, placed under the authority of the prime minister. But this institution brings together several pro-Iran armed factions, some of which have also carried out attacks, in Iraq and Syria, against American soldiers deployed as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition.