Baghdad: Iraq held the US-led coalition forces responsible for repercussions of the attack on Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi Forces in Babil province south of Baghdad, Iraqi military spokesman Yahya Rasoul said on Wednesday.
“The coalition forces have committed a heinous crime and blatant aggression” when they targeted military bases belonging to the Iraqi security forces in northern Babil province Tuesday night, killing and wounding several members of the Hashd Shaabi forces, said Rasoul in a statement.
Such attacks can significantly undermine all efforts, mechanisms, and frameworks of joint security work to combat the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria, Rasoul warned, adding that the attack also risks dragging Iraq and the entire region into dangerous conflicts and wars.
Iraq would take appropriate legal and diplomatic measures to protect its rights and ensure its security and sovereignty, the spokesman stressed, Xinhua news agency reported.
On Tuesday night, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua that unknown drones bombed a military base of the Hashd Shaabi forces, also known as Popular Mobilization Forces, in the Jurf al-Nasr area in the northern part of Babil province.
On Wednesday, a statement issued by the al-Jazira Operations Command of the Hashd Shaabi forces accused the United States of conducting three drone attacks on the paramilitary 47th Brigade in the Jurf al-Nasr area, leaving four fighters killed, including a commander named Ahmed Najam Abdul-Zahra.
Meanwhile, an Iraqi militia known as Kataib Hezbollah said in a separate statement that the US drones were launched from neighboring Kuwait while calling on the Iraqi government to take decisive action to end the presence of US-led coalition forces and urging the parliament lawmakers to adopt a clear stance towards expelling American troops from Iraq.
(IANS)
