Shafaq News – Baghdad (updated at 23:17)

Three members of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were killed on Tuesday when an explosion tore through one of the group’s facilities southeast of Baghdad, security officials said.

The PMF identified the dead as Murtadha Kazem al-Darraji, Mohammed Abdulrahman al-Mutairi, and Waad Hassan al-Omari. In a statement, the force described the incident as an “accidental explosion” during a technical clearance mission and said the situation had been contained.

The blast struck a PMF explosives disposal site near the Basmaya gas plant while personnel were dismantling remnants of munitions left behind by ISIS. The explosion damaged several nearby homes in Jurf al-Naddaf, on the capital’s outskirts.

Security officials told Shafaq News that the explosion originated inside a workshop storing old ordnance recovered from former ISIS-held areas. The PMF said its teams have launched an investigation and continue operations to remove explosive remnants across Baghdad’s southern belt.