Injured Popular Mobilization Forces fighters are transported on a stretcher at a medical facility after an airstrike targeted their position in Dibis district, Kirkuk governorate.
Five PMF fighters killed in airstrike on Kataib Imam Ali position in Kirkuk
BAGHDAD — Five Popular Mobilization Forces fighters were killed and more than 10 wounded in an airstrike that hit a Kataib Imam Ali position in Dibis district, Kirkuk, early Tuesday, according to the faction’s media official and Iraq’s Joint Operations Command.
Yahya Haidari, media official for Kataib Imam Ali, told 964media the strike hit the 1st Regiment of the 40th Brigade at around 3 a.m. The wounded were transferred to hospitals in Kirkuk.
Iraq’s Joint Operations Command mourned the dead as “heroes” killed in a “treacherous bombardment” while performing their “national duty,” calling the strike “a blatant attack on Iraq.” It did not identify the aircraft or assign responsibility.
Neither the United States nor Israel has claimed responsibility for the strikes on PMF positions across Iraq since the U.S.-Israeli campaign against Iran began Feb. 28.
The Dibis strike is the latest in a series targeting Iran-aligned factions. On Monday night, two airstrikes hit the PMF’s 51st Brigade north of Baiji in Salah al-Din with no reported casualties. Earlier strikes in Qaim, Anbar killed four PMF members and wounded 11 — with aircraft reportedly returning to strike again as fighters evacuated the wounded. Suspected strikes have also hit Kataib Hezbollah positions in Akashat and sites in Jurf al-Sakhar, Babil. On the same day, fighter jets struck the PMF’s 30th Brigade headquarters in the Nineveh Plain, destroying weapons depots.