Dozens killed in a bombing against a Popular Mobilization Forces facility in Iraq

Dozens of people have been killed or injured this Thursday due to a bombing against an installation of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of militias integrated into the security forces of Iraq, in the province of Anbar, without it being clear for now who carried out the attack.

Security sources cited by the Iraqi news portal Shafaq have indicated that the attack left nearly one hundred dead, more than 120 injured and about 45 missing, although the Iraqi authorities have not yet provided a tally of victims of the bombing.

The place reached, located in Akashat, belongs to the Ansaralá al Aufiya group, part of the 19th Brigade of the PMF, an umbrella organization of dozens of militias – many of them pro-Iranian – that are part of the Iraqi Armed Forces, although there are complaints about the weight of Tehran in the decision-making of many of its groups.

Iraq’s Joint Operations Command has expressed its “grave concern” and condemned the “brutal and flagrant attacks against FMP heroes while they carry out their sacred national duties alongside their brothers in the security forces, within their areas of responsibility.”

“The continuation of these systematic and repeated transgressions, violations and attacks, as well as indiscriminate attacks, will contribute to chaos, threaten social peace and undermine the pillars of security and stability,” he warned, while stating that these acts “generate resentment and anger among the patient people, who consider the aggressors fully responsible for the repercussions.”

“We consider these actions and operations as a flagrant violation of national sovereignty and a direct attack against the dignity of Iraq,” he concluded, without commenting on who would have been behind the attack, carried out in the middle of the conflict in the Middle East, unleashed after the offensive launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against Iran.

The attack came days after the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, demanded from the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mohamed Shia al Sudani, that the authorities adopt “all possible measures” to protect US personnel and facilities in the country, in the face of attacks by Iran and pro-Iranian militias in response to the aforementioned offensive.