‘A heinous crime’: Air strikes kill seven fighters in Iraq’s Anbar

An aerial attack on a military base in western Iraq’s Anbar province has killed seven fighters and wounded 13, according to Iraq’s Ministry of Defence.

The strikes on Wednesday targeted the military healthcare clinic at the base in Habbaniyah, according to the ministry. It called the attack “a heinous crime” that violated “all international laws and norms”.

An Iraqi police source told Al Jazeera the attack targeted positions of the Iraqi military’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a paramilitary group that includes some Iran-aligned brigades and reportedly shares the base with members of Iraq’s regular army.

The PMF condemned the attack as a “blatant aggression [that] constitutes a grave violation of national sovereignty and an unacceptable transgression against the Iraqi security forces”.

“We also call upon all the sons and daughters of the Iraqi people to unite and stand together during this critical time, and to support state institutions and security forces in carrying out their sacred duty,” the group said in a statement.

The strikes appeared appeared to be the first time the PMF was hit alongside the broader Iraqi military, according to Al Jazeera’s Assed Baig, reporting from Baghdad.

“What we understand from the military here is that air strikes were carried out and then further strikes carried out on that same position,” said Baig.

After the strikes, ⁠Iraqi ⁠Prime Minister Mohammed ⁠Shia al-Sudani ⁠instructed the Ministry ‌of Foreign Affairs to summon the US charge d’affaires in ⁠Baghdad over attacks ⁠targeting ⁠its “military units”, ⁠the ⁠prime minister’s office said. The office added that Iraq’s government would file a formal complaint with the United Nations Security Council and other international bodies over the incident, which it warned could undermine US-Iraq relations.

‘Right to respond’

A security official quoted by the AFP news agency said the strike on Wednesday occurred at the same base that suffered a deadly attack the day before.

Tuesday’s strike, which the PMF blamed on the US, was the deadliest in Iraq since the start of the war on Iran on February 28. It killed 15 fighters, including a commander.

The attack prompted Iraq’s government to grant the PMF a “right to respond” to any attack against it, a position Baghdad reaffirmed on Wednesday.

Baghdad also said on Tuesday that it intended to summon the US charge d’affaires and the Iranian ambassador over recent strikes on former paramilitaries and Iraqi Kurdish security forces as fallout from the US-Israel war on Iran spills into Iraqi territory.

Since the war began, pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region while strikes have also targeted these groups, including at government positions.

The US Department of Defense has acknowledged that combat helicopters have carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the current conflict.

Baig said the latest strikes demonstrate “an escalation in terms of the PMF being targeted”.

“Increasingly, Iraq is becoming a battlefield between Iraqi armed factions and the United States,” he said.