Iraq to ‘compensate’ families of dead, wounded in airstrikes with grants of up to $6,494

BAGHDAD — Iraq will pay families of those killed in recent airstrikes up to 10 million dinars ($6,494) and wounded survivors 5 million dinars ($3,247), Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani announced Saturday.

The grants cover deaths and injuries among regular security forces, Popular Mobilization Forces fighters and civilians. Al-Sudani, who also serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, ordered a special committee formed to oversee the payments.

“The committee has begun visiting their families and reviewing their conditions,” Ministry of Defense spokesman Tahseen al-Khafaji told the Iraqi News Agency. He said visits had begun in Baghdad, including Sadr City, and were extending to Diyala, Kirkuk and Mosul before moving to southern provinces in the coming days.

The PMF said Thursday that 32 airstrikes have hit its positions across seven provinces since the regional war began Feb. 28, killing 27 fighters and wounding 50 — nine of them killed and 10 wounded in Thursday’s strikes alone. In a statement, it expressed “categorical rejection and strong condemnation” of what it called attacks “carried out by American aircraft, in a blatant aggression and a serious violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” citing strikes on positions in Diyala, Kirkuk, Anbar, Nineveh, Salah al-Din, Wasit and Babil.

Many of the targeted groups belong to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella of Iran-aligned factions — including Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataib Imam Ali and Harakat al-Nujaba — that have claimed responsibility for drone and rocket attacks on sites they say are linked to the United States. Most are also formally incorporated into the PMF.

In recent days, suspected U.S. airstrikes have targeted positions and members of some of these groups inside Iraq, with several reported strikes hitting sites linked to Kataib Hezbollah.

The Kurdistan Region has faced at least 200 drone, missile and rocket attacks since the war began, killing four people and injuring 19, according to Community Peacemaker Teams – Iraqi Kurdistan. The IRGC and Iran-aligned groups have claimed responsibility for many of the strikes, which have hit military installations, diplomatic facilities, airports, oil sites and residential areas across Erbil and Sulaymaniyah provinces.