Baghdad, March 25, (dpa/GNA) – Seven Iraqi army personnel were killed on Wednesday in an air attack on military facilities, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence said, marking the latest such assault reported in the country amid the raging Middle East war.
Another 13 people were injured in the attack on a military clinic and an engineering unit at an army post in the al-Habbaniyah area in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, the ministry said in a statement.
“This targeting is a flagrant and serious violation of all international laws and norms that prohibit targeting medical facilities,” the ministry said, without providing details on who was responsible for the strikes.
The site houses assets of Iraq’s Hashd Shaabi, an Iraqi Iran-aligned militia, also known as the Popular Moblization Forces (PMF).
Earlier Wednesday, Iraqi media reported that an air attack had targeted a Hashd base in al-Habbaniyah.
The paramilitary group, which played a key role in the fight against Islamic State between 2014 and 2017, continues to operate alongside Iraqi security forces.
The PMF has reported a series of attacks against its facilities in Iraq since the United States and Israel began attacking Iran in late February.
The militia said Tuesday that at least 14 of its personnel, including a regional commander, were killed in US airstrikes in Anbar.
Iraq’s Ministerial National Security Council authorized the PMF and other security agencies to carry out acts of self-defence against attacks, according to Iraq’s state news agency INA.
GNA