Reuters is reporting a "massive" blast at an Iraqi base used by Iran-linked militias south of Baghdad in the overnight hours (local).
"A huge blast rocked a military base used by Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) to the south of Baghdad late on Friday," army sources said to Reuters.
Few other details have been given, but images are widely circulating online showing what indeed appears to be a very large-scale strike.
A number of regional correspondents have been quick to identify it as an American military airstrike; however, given the events of the night prior (the 'limited' attack on Iran), others are speculating it was the Israelis behind it.
The US military says its forces were not behind a reported strike on an Iraqi military base.
“The United States has not conducted air strikes in Iraq today,” US Central Command says on X, adding that reports American forces had carried out a strike are “not true.”
An airstrike early Saturday hit a base used by the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias in Iraq, the group says in a statement.
It’s not clear who was responsible for the purported attack, which came a day after a suspected Israeli strike in Iran, but militia officials blame US forces.
A US official says there were no US airstrikes in Iraq. The official speaks on the condition of anonymity to provide details that are not public.
In recent months, some PMF member groups staged attacks on US forces based in Iraq and Syria, which they said was in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in its war with the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
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