Airstrikes kill two PMF fighters in Babil, civilian woman in Wasit

BABIL — An airstrike targeted a Popular Mobilization Forces base Wednesday at the Musayyib–Jurf al-Sakhar intersection in Babil governorate, killing two fighters and wounding several others, according to preliminary reports and video obtained by 964media.

Footage obtained by 964media shows a drone flying over the area and the Musayyib district shortly before the strike. The wounded were transferred to Musayyib Hospital for treatment.

The strike came hours after another attack earlier the same day targeting ammunition depots at a PMF base in Suwayra district, Wasit governorate — a base that mainly hosts Asaib Ahl al-Haq, according to security sources. A woman living near the storage site was killed when shrapnel struck her home, and her son was seriously wounded, health and security officials told AFP. Several PMF members were also injured.

The latest strikes follow a series of air attacks targeting Iran-aligned armed groups across Iraq since the regional war began Feb. 28. Five PMF fighters were killed and more than 10 wounded Tuesday in an airstrike on a Kataib Imam Ali position in Dibis district, Kirkuk. On Monday night, two strikes hit the PMF’s 51st Brigade north of Baiji in Salah al-Din with no casualties. Earlier strikes in Qaim, Anbar killed four PMF members and wounded 11 — with aircraft reportedly returning to strike as fighters evacuated the wounded. Suspected strikes have also hit Kataib Hezbollah positions in Akashat and sites in Jurf al-Sakhar, Babil, while fighter jets struck the PMF’s 30th Brigade headquarters in the Nineveh Plain, destroying weapons depots.

Neither the United States nor Israel has claimed responsibility for the strikes targeting PMF positions in Iraq.

AFP contributed to this report.