RNA – Following an attack by an American military helicopter in the al-Baghdadi district of Iraq’s western al-Anbar Governorate, which resulted in the deaths and wounding of several civilians and members of the country’s police forces, Hujjat al-Islam Qays al-Khazali, the secretary-general of the Asaib Ahlul-Haqq movement, which is part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, issued a statement.
He said that the incident in the al-Anbar Governorate poses important questions about the American military presence in Iraq.
Hujjat al-Islam al-Khazali wrote on his Twitter account, “The American helicopter attack on the al-Baghdadi district and the deaths of seven Iraqi and the wounding 11 others, including the head of the al-Baghdadi district and its police chief and a number of members of the country’s security forces, raises important questions about the presence of the American military in Iraq, the role that it wants to play in the country and also the justifications for its presence after the defeat of Daesh in the country.”
An security intelligence source in Iraq’s al-Anbar Governorate said that seven American soldiers were killed and 11 were injured in an American helicopter strike in al-Baghdadi district of the governorate on the morning of January 27th.
The official, who did not want to be named, said in an interview with Iraq’s Moazin News that the American helicopter gunship targeted several civilian and military vehicles carrying Sharhabil al-Ubaydi, the commander of the al-Baghdadi district, and Colonel Salam al-Ubaydi, the police chief of the area. They also intended to attack the house of Shaykh Mu’adi al-Ubaydi, the head of the al-Ubaydi tribe, who lives 90 kilometres west of al-Ramadi.
The source added that among them, 11 people were wounded, including Colonel al-Ubaydi and Sharhabil al-Ubaydi, who were treated at the hospital.
The commander of the operations in al-Jazirah and al-Badiyah in al-Anbar Governorate offered some details of the incident, “A joint force of Americans and Special Forces of al-Anbar Governorate left al-Asad Airbase with two military helicopters to the place where they thought Ali Iffat al-Sarmad was present in order to arrest him due to him having a large amount of weapons, military equipment and possession of other files. They got close but members of the Popular Mobilization Forces and police patrols in al-Baghdadi by assuming that they were under attack by Daesh forces in the area, got involved with them and fired at American forces and the American helicopters also fired at them, killing a number of police forces and injuring several people, including the police chief al-Baghdadi.”
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