Iraq ‘files’ legal procedures over airstrikes on PMF positions

BAGHDAD — Iraq has begun legal proceedings against those responsible for airstrikes targeting Popular Mobilization Forces positions, military spokesman Sabah al-Numan said Thursday, describing the attacks as “unjustified.”

“We have initiated legal procedures against those responsible for the bloodshed of PMF fighters and our other security forces,” al-Numan said, adding that a complaint has been filed against those responsible for targeting PMF headquarters and other security sites. Prime Minister Sudani has also formed a committee to visit families of those killed and direct “full support and medical care to ensure the recovery of the injured.”

Iraq has not specified the legal venue for its complaint nor have Iraqi officials have not formally named those it accuses. Many of the strikes on PMF positions have been attributed by the group to the United States and Israel. Neither country has claimed responsibility.

The announcement follows a sustained wave of strikes since the regional war began Feb. 28. On Thursday, one fighter was killed and two wounded in a strike on the 4th Regiment of the 30th Brigade in the Nineveh Plain, which the PMF described as a joint U.S.-Israeli operation. Six fighters were killed and four wounded earlier this week in Qaim district, Anbar. Kataib Hezbollah announced the death of its security chief Abu Ali al-Askari in a separate strike on a house in Baghdad’s Arasat area. The PMF says airstrikes have now hit its positions across seven governorates, killing dozens of fighters. Neither Israel nor the United States has publicly claimed responsibility for any of the strikes.