BAGHDAD — A “stroke “self-defense” was carried out against “a drone launch site” in the north of Iraq, a US military official said on Sunday, after five gunmen from a pro-Iran group were killed in a bombing there.
It was a “self-defense attack against an imminent threat” in the vicinity of Kirkuk, the soldier declared on condition of anonymity.
The men were killed Sunday night in an aerial bombardment in Iraq’s northern Kirkuk province, two security sources said.
The “aerial bombing” targeted a “site” managed by a faction of the Hashd al Shaabi, a coalition of former paramilitaries currently integrated into the Iraqi army, said a senior security official in Kirkuk, who reported five deaths.
“A drone targeted a position of the al Nujaba group in the Dibis region,” said a security official in the capital, Baghdad, adding that there were “five dead and five wounded.”
self defense attack
The bombing occurred a day after the Iraqi government warned the United States to refrain from carrying out any “attacks” on its territory.
A US military official stated, on condition of anonymity, that “a self-defense attack against an imminent threat” was carried out against “a drone launch site” in the vicinity of Kirkuk.
Late Sunday, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq – a loose formation of armed groups affiliated with Hashd al Shaabi – announced in a statement that “five martyrs” died fighting “the American occupation forces in Iraq.”
A police officer in the area said that “remains apparently belonging to a drone” had been found.
On Saturday, during a call with the head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al Sudani insisted on “Iraq’s rejection of any attack against Iraqi territory.”
The war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip had regional repercussions and triggered attacks by pro-Iran groups against American soldiers and troops deployed in Iraq and Syria of the international anti-jihadist coalition, led by Washington.
At the end of November, in retaliation for the recurring aggressions of these movements, the United States launched two deadly attacks against pro-combatants.Iran in Iraq. Washington also bombed sites linked to Iran In Syria.
FOUNTAIN: With information from AFP
