Evidence points to Israel being behind recent attacks on Hashd al-Sha’abi forces: Iraqi MP

An Iraqi legislator says evidence points to involvement of the Israeli regime in a recent attack on pro-government Popular Mobilization Units, better known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha’abi, stating that the Tel Aviv regime is trying to weaken the volunteer forces.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Lebanon-based Arabic-language al-Mayadeen television news network on Wednesday, Karim Alaiwi, a member of the Security and Defense Committee in the Iraqi Parliament, said it is known that many attacks on targets in Iraq were carried out by Israeli planes, including the attacks on Camp Amerli and Camp Saqr, stressing that the evidence points to Israel being behind the airstrikes.

PressTV-‘Israel plans to bomb Hashd Sha’abi arms depots in Iraq’

An Iraqi security expert says the Israeli military is apparently planning to launch attacks against ammunition depots of pro-government Hashd al-Shaa’abi forces.

“Israel is trying to weaken the force through airstrikes and even targeted killing of its officials,” the lawmaker said.

PressTV-Don’t play with fire: Iraqi anti-terror force warns Israel

Iraq's Hashd al-Sha’abi has warned Israel against “playing with fire” after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hinted that Tel Aviv may attack the anti-terror volunteer fighters. 

Alaiwi added that the Iraqi airspace is controlled by the US Air Force, suggesting that Israel could not have struck the bases without Washington’s knowledge.

US responsible for attacks on Hashd al-Sha’abi bases

Second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, has held the United States fully responsible for recent attacks on the volunteer forces.

He said in a statement that the US, which has contributed to the emergence of terrorist groups in the Middle East, is now considering various ways to violate Iraq’s sovereignty and targeting the PMU.

“We have accurate and credible information that Americans brought in four Israeli drones this year via Azerbaijan to operate within the US fleet to carry out sorties aimed at Iraqi military headquarters. We also have other information, maps and recordings of all types of American aircraft, when they took off, when they landed and the number of hours they flew,” al-Mohandes pointed out.

PressTV-Iraqi Hashd al-Sha’abi vows revenge for Syria air raid

Iraqi voluntary Hashd al-Sha’abi forces have vowed a “suitable” response to the deadly strike on its fighters in eastern Syria.

“Instead of chasing Daesh terrorists, US military aircraft are collecting information and data concerning the brigades of Popular Mobilization Units, and their warehouses and arms depots,” the statement read.

Sayf al-Badr, spokesman of the Iraqi Health Ministry, said in a statement that at least one person was killed and 29 others were wounded in a powerful explosion, which rocked a military base in southern Baghdad on August 12.

‘US Hashd Sha’abi stance violates Iraq sovereignty’

Abbas al-Ismaili said the voluntary forces are an important part of the country’s security system.

An unnamed source from Iraq’s Interior Ministry said an ammunition warehouse exploded inside a federal police military base, named Falcon, in Owerij area near the southern district of Doura.

The source added that the blast was followed by a series of explosions at the warehouse that sent a large amount of shrapnel to nearby houses.

Arabic-language al-Ahad TV television network reported on July 19 that a drone had dropped explosives onto a base belonging to Popular Mobilization Units near the town of Amerli, located about 170 kilometers north of the capital Baghdad, in the early hours of the day, killing at least one PMU fighter and injuring four others.

Video footage broadcast by Iraqi channels showed a blaze burning at the site and plumes of thick smoke billowing. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

PressTV-Blasts hit Hashd al-Sha’abi position north of Iraq capital

Several blasts have rocked a position of pro-government Hashd al-Sha’abi forces near Balad air base north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

Moreover, the Iraqi al-Etejah television network reported that an American B350 reconnaissance plane had flown over the area a few days earlier.

In January, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hinted during a visit to Iraq that the Israeli regime could launch attacks against Hashd al-Sha’abi forces, who played a key role in the Iraqi army’s counter-terrorism battles against the Daesh terror group and helped the government to rid the country of the Takfiri outfit in late 2017.

Pompeo was reported to have made it clear to Iraqi officials at a meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi that Washington would not react to possible Israeli attacks against Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters.

Abdul-Mahdi expressed concern about the statement and warned Pompeo that such actions by Israel would have grave consequences, Russia’s RT Arabic television news network reported back then.

PressTV-Iraqi PM orders probe into attack on Hashd Sha’abi camp

The Iraqi prime minister has ordered an investigation into a drone attack on a base belonging to Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters in the northern province of Salahuddin.

Reacting to the reports, Moein al-Kazemi, a Hashd al-Sha’abi commander, said the force was ready to deliver a “strong” response to any aggression, advising the regime in Tel Aviv not to “play with fire.”

The Israeli regime has a record of attacking the forces fighting the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group in Syria.

In June 2018, Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters came under attack in Syria’s border town of al-Hari, in the eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr, as they were chasing Daesh terrorists out of the area.

Both the Syrian government and Hashd al-Sha’abi declared back then that the attack near the Iraqi-Syrian border had been deliberate and could only have been carried out by either Israel or the United States.

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