Iraqi Kurdistan government denies letting US bomb Iran-backed militia
An official from an Iran-backed militia in Iraq accused the Kurdistan Regional Government of allowing the United States to launch bombing runs from Erbil.
The Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq has denied claims that US warplanes took off from its capital Erbil to bomb Iran-backed militias in the country.
Early Monday morning, US fighter jets bombed Kataib Hezbollah and Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada positions on the western Iraq-eastern Syria border. Both groups are Iraqi militias that receive support from Iran. The groups and allied “resistance” militias have been in conflict with the US military for more than a year, and seek to expel US forces from Iraq. The latest US airstrikes led to an attack on US positions in Syria Monday night.
An official from Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Ahmed al-Maksusi, claimed on Monday that the US jets that launched the airstrikes took off from Erbil. The US military has a presence at the Erbil International Airport as part of its participation in the global coalition against the Islamic State. The United States also has troops in Baghdad and at Ain Al Asad airbase in western Iraq.
“From where did this bomb come from? The Erbil base,” said Maksusi during an interview with the Iraqi TV station iNEWS.
