Iraq's FM condemns the U.S. attack on a PMF headquarters

Shafaq News/ Iraq's Foreign Ministry on Thursday denounced the U.S. "flagrant aggression" that targeted a security headquarters in central Baghdad and killed a high-ranking commander in al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF).

Thursday's strike comes amid mounting regional tensions fueled by the Israel-Hamas war and fears that it could spill over into surrounding countries. It also coincides with a push by Iraqi officials for U.S.-led coalition forces to leave the country.

A press release by the Iraqi foreign ministry said that the attack targeted a "security formation affiliated with the Commander-in-Chief of the Iraqi Armed Forces and operates under the commands of the state", describing it as a "dangerous escalation".

The ministry said that Iraq will take a "firm stance" and "all the necessary measures" to deter any attacks on its land and security forces.

The Popular Mobilization Force, or PMF, a coalition of paramilitary groups that is nominally under the control of the Iraqi military, announced in a statement that its deputy head of operations in Baghdad, Mushtaq Taleb al-Saidi, codenamed Abu Taqwa, had been killed "as a result of brutal American aggression".

U.S. officials confirmed that U.S. forces conducted a strike on a vehicle in Baghdad on Monday against the group Harakat al-Nujaba. The group, one of the groups within PMF, was designated a terrorist organization by Washington in 2019.