Israel conducted “several strikes in recent days” in Iraq, unnamed senior American officials were quoted by The New York Times as saying, amid a series of unclaimed strikes in the past month targeting bases belonging to Iraqi pro-government troops. RNA - The daily reported that two senior US officials speaking to the paper had stated that Israel had targeted Iraqi munition storehouses.
The newspaper's report cited an unnamed senior Middle Eastern intelligence official saying that Israel was specifically behind the July 19 attack, in which a drone was reported to have targeted a base for Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as the Hashd al-Shaabi, near the town of Amerli in Northwestern Iraq.
Also earlier this week, another attack rocked a PMU position near a strategic air base North of the capital Baghdad. Following the raid, the popular forces vowed to target any unidentified aircraft near its bases.
Second-in-command of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units, Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes, held the United States fully responsible for recent attacks on the volunteer forces.
The NYT report came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted that the Tel Aviv regime was behind the latest attacks in Iraq, trying to use Israel's animosity towards Tehran as a pretext.
"We are operating – not just if needed, we are operating in many areas against a state that wants to annihilate us. Of course I gave the security forces a free hand and instructed them to do anything necessary to thwart Iran's plans," Netanyahu noted when asked whether Tel Aviv was considering operations in Iraq.
According to Fars News Agancy, the Israeli regime has a record of attacking the forces fighting militant groups in Syria.
In January, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo hinted during a visit to Iraq that the Tel Aviv regime could launch attacks against Hashd al-Shaabi forces.
The PMU was formed and joined forces with the Iraqi military in 2014 after the Daesh (also known as ISIL or ISIS) Takfiri terrorist group launched a campaign of bloodshed and destruction against the Arab nation.
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