Iraq denies reports of security force withdrawal from Qaim checkpoints

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s Security Media Cell denied Tuesday that security forces had withdrawn from checkpoints in Qaim district, Anbar, calling reports to that effect false.

“No order to withdraw has been issued, and the forces are present in their positions and carrying out their duties normally, with a high level of coordination,” Security Media Cell chief Saad Maan told the Iraqi News Agency.

The denial follows a strike Monday on a PMF checkpoint in Qaim, near the Syrian border, that killed six fighters and wounded four. Kataib Hezbollah also announced Monday the death of its security chief Abu Ali al-Askari, one of the most prominent figures in Iraq’s Iran-aligned militia landscape.

The PMF says airstrikes have hit its positions across seven governorates since the regional war began Feb. 28, killing dozens of fighters. Neither Israel nor the United States has publicly claimed responsibility for any of the strikes.