MUWAFAQIYA, Iraq — At the funeral on Tuesday for an Iraqi militiaman killed in a United States airstrike, family and friends cursed the US and said there are "a thousand more" ready to take his place.
Karar Abdulaziz, 27, was a Shabak Kurd and a member of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). He was one of four PMF fighters killed in a US airstrike on the Iraq-Syria border on Monday.
“The airstrike has extinguished the candle in our house. What should we do? God damn both the US and Israel. God damn them both, now and in the hereafter. They attack houses of people, may God attack theirs,” said Zainal Abdulaziz, brother of Karar Abdulaziz.
Early Monday morning, the US launched “defensive precision airstrikes” against Iran-backed factions of the PMF on the Iraq-Syria border. “The targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against US personnel and facilities in Iraq,” the Pentagon stated.
Two days earlier, four explosive-laden drones hit locations northeast of Erbil, within a few kilometres of where the new US consulate is under construction. Drones are a growing worry in Iraq and the PMF are blamed for at least six drone attacks or attempted attacks in Iraq this year.
The militias, which are also accused of firing rockets at bases housing US troops, want to force American troops out of the country.
In a symbolic funeral in Baghdad on Tuesday for the four fighters killed in the airstrikes, hundreds of PMF members and supporters chanted slogans against the US and Israel and called on Baghdad to expel foreign troops.
A friend of Karar Abdulaziz had a message: “even though Karar is gone, there are a thousand more in his place,” Mohammed Amin said at his friend’s funeral.
The Pentagon describes the PMF as a “major threat” to Iraq.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
