Iraq
PMF members carry the coffin of a comrade who was reportedly killed in an airstrike in al-Qaim the previous evening, during his funeral in Baghdad on March 11, 2026. File photo: AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A fighter from Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) was killed and several others wounded in an attack targeting their position in Salahaddin province early Thursday, the group said, as attacks continue on pro-Iran groups in Iraq amid escalating regional tensions.
The PMF said in a statement that “one of the outposts of the 31st Brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces near al-Siniya airport [K2 Air Base] in Salahaddin Governorate was subjected to a treacherous Zionist-American aggression,” adding that the attack resulted in the killing of "one individual and the injury of several others."
According to the statement, rescue efforts were hampered by "the continuous presence of enemy aircraft, which deliberately targeted rescue teams on more than one occasion,” the PMF said.
The 31st Brigade is affiliated with the al-Risaliyun Movement, a faction within the PMF.
The strike marked the second attack on PMF positions in Baiji within hours. Earlier in the day, the Jund al-Imam brigades - another PMF faction - were targeted in a separate attack that wounded three militants.
The incidents come amid rising regional tensions after the US and Israel launched a large-scale military campaign against Iran in late February, with Iraq increasingly caught in the crossfire. Iran-aligned armed groups have stepped up drone and missile attacks on US diplomatic missions and military bases, prompting retaliatory strikes on PMF-linked positions.
On Monday, the PMF said one of its positions at the Martyr Haider checkpoint in Anbar province’s al-Qaim district was struck by what it described as a “Zionist attack,” killing six fighters and wounding four others.
“The bombing was by warplane and directly targeted the Popular Mobilization Forces security room at the checkpoint,” Abdullah al-Jughaifi, advisor to Anbar’s provincial council, told Rudaw.
Jughaifi said a member of the emergency police and two civilians were also wounded in the same attack.
In another attack last week, more than a dozen PMF members were killed in separate attacks on bases in Kirkuk and Anbar provinces. In one incident, 10 fighters were killed in an airstrike on a camp in al-Qaim, while at least four others were killed and around eight injured in a drone strike on a PMF base in Kirkuk.
Additional attacks earlier this month targeted PMF positions in Kirkuk’s Dibis district, killing six fighters and wounding 20 others, while another airstrike in Diyala province left four dead and eight injured.
The escalation comes as Washington presses Baghdad to curb the activities of Iran-aligned armed groups. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week urged Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani to take “all possible measures” to protect American personnel and facilities, while condemning attacks by Iran-backed factions as “terrorist attacks.”
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