According to authorities, one person was killed and eight others injured in an explosion at a military base in Iraq. Pro-Iranian militias, among others, are stationed in Kalso.
According to official information, one person was killed in an attack on a military base belonging to a militia alliance in the center of Iraq. An Interior Ministry representative said eight other people were injured in the incident on Saturday night.
According to him and a military representative, it was initially unclear who was responsible for the attack on the Kalso base and whether it was a drone attack.
USA used base earlier
In addition to the army and police, fighters from the pro-Iranian group Hashd al-Shaabi, who have now been integrated into the regular Iraqi armed forces, are also stationed at the base. The base was previously used by the United States and was handed over to Iraqi forces in 2011.
The exact circumstances of the incident initially remained unclear on Saturday. A representative of the Iraqi Interior Ministry initially said the base had been the target of an airstrike. But there was no official confirmation of this.
The US military said shortly after the explosion that it had not carried out an airstrike in Iraq. When contacted by the AFP news agency, the Israeli army said it does not comment on reports in “foreign media”.
Attacks on US military and counter strikes
The Hashd al-Shaabi group is a coalition of several armed pro-Iranian groups, some of which have carried out attacks on US soldiers stationed in Iraq and Syria as part of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State jihadist militia. The US has repeatedly bombed pro-Iranian militias in Syria and Iraq in retaliation.
The explosion at the military base came amid the extremely tense situation in the Middle East. Explosions occurred in the Isfahan region of Iran on Friday night. US media reported, citing government sources in Washington, that Israel was responsible for the explosions.
A week ago, Iran directly attacked Israel from its territory for the first time. According to Israeli information, almost all of the more than 300 drones and missiles launched by Iran were repelled, with the help of, among others, the USA, Great Britain, France and Jordan.