2024-08-01 16:36:42
Iraqi Armed Forces spokesman Major General Yahya Rasool on Wednesday condemned a strike by international coalition forces on Tuesday, saying they had committed a “heinous crime and blatant aggression” after targeting sites belonging to the security services in northern Babil province, warning of “dangerous repercussions” for what he described as “uncalculated violations.”
He pointed out that the international coalition is present in Iraq under a specific mandate, and these attacks represent a serious violation of this mandate.
He stressed that Iraq “will take appropriate legal and diplomatic measures to preserve its rights and everything that would confirm its security and sovereignty over its lands and protect them.”
Major General Yahya Rasool said that despite the efforts through political and diplomatic channels, and the technical military committees, and reaching advanced stages of ending the presence and work of the international coalition forces to fight ISIS in Iraq, “the international coalition forces committed a heinous crime and a blatant attack after targeting, with fighter planes coming from across the border, Iraqi sites belonging to the security services in the north of Babil Governorate.”
He said that the strike led to the deaths of “a number of members of our security forces in the Popular Mobilization Forces, and the wounding of a number of others without any justification for this reckless and irresponsible aggressive act.”
He considered that these “serious and unpredictable” violations would greatly undermine all efforts, mechanisms and contexts of joint security work to combat ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
He added that it would “drag Iraq and the entire region into conflicts, wars and dangerous repercussions.”
The Iraqi army spokesman held the international coalition forces “fully responsible for these repercussions after they carried out this brutal aggression.”
The United States carried out what it described as a “self-defense strike in Iraq” on Tuesday in Musayyib, Babil province. Iraqi police and medical sources said the strike took place inside a base south of Baghdad used by Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, killing four of its members and wounding four others, Reuters reported.
The US officials added that the strike targeted “militants who the US assessed were looking to launch drones and pose a threat to US and coalition forces.”
Police and medical sources said the explosions killed six people and wounded four. A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strike was carried out because of a “threat to coalition forces stationed in Iraq.” The official did not comment on any casualties.
Several rockets were fired at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base, which houses U.S.-led forces, last week, without causing any damage or casualties, U.S. and Iraqi sources said. None of the rockets hit the base, U.S. officials said.
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2024-08-01 16:36:42