Smoke rises from the site of an airstrike targeting a Popular Mobilization Forces position in the town of al-Mowafaqiya in the Nineveh Plain on March 9, 2026.
Airstrikes hit PMF base in Nineveh Plain for second time in days
NINEVEH — Fighter jets struck a Popular Mobilization Forces base in the Nineveh Plain on Monday, targeting weapons depots at the site in two consecutive strikes, a security source told 964media, as a PMF official blamed the United States for the attack.
The strikes hit Brigade 30’s headquarters in the town of al-Mowafaqiya, east of Mosul, destroying ammunition warehouses, the source said. Witnesses said fighter jets were still circling the area at the time of reporting.
AFP reports that a PMF official said the strike targeted a base in the Bartella area near Mosul, blaming it on the United States.
No casualties were reported and no party has officially claimed responsibility.
The attack is the second strike on PMF positions in Nineveh in days. On March 7, unidentified aircraft hit Brigade 40 and the 33rd Regiment in the governorate, killing one fighter and wounding three others.
The strikes are part of a pattern of attacks on Iran-aligned factions across Iraq since the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran began Feb. 28. Earlier this month, four PMF members were killed and 11 wounded in airstrikes on positions in Qaim district, Anbar, with aircraft returning to strike again as fighters evacuated the wounded. Suspected strikes also hit Kataib Hezbollah positions in the Akashat area of Qaim and sites in Jurf al-Sakhar, Babil.
Neither the United States nor Israel has claimed any of the strikes on PMF positions in Iraq, though both have conducted operations against Iran-aligned groups in the region since the war began. The factions being targeted — including those operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq banner — have claimed repeated drone and missile attacks on U.S. bases across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
The PMF is a coalition of mostly Shia militias formed in 2014 to fight the Islamic State and formally incorporated into Iraq’s security forces in 2016, though many factions maintain independent command structures and close ties with Iran.
AFP contributed to this report