Joint United States-Saudi airstrikes killed at least 20 members of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces and wounded 32, according to a preliminary toll issued by the alliance. The PMF said its bases were hit across seven Iraqi provinces.
A PMF official told AFP that the deadliest strike occurred in Nineveh province, where at least 10 members were killed. Injuries were reported elsewhere, while a second official confirmed the initial overall toll. Both officials spoke anonymously, and the supplied report did not include an independent casualty assessment.
The United States and Saudi Arabia said their forces targeted Iran-backed militants in response to attacks on US personnel and Saudi oil infrastructure. The packet did not identify the units struck, list the damaged bases or provide the militaries' assessment of casualties. The PMF said buildings and other property were also damaged.
The operation followed Saudi reports that drones had been intercepted while targeting oil facilities in the kingdom's east. Riyadh blamed Iran-aligned groups in Iraq. Those factions rejected the accusations as fabricated and warned Saudi Arabia against attacking Iraqi territory. No group had claimed the cited drone attacks in the evidence supplied for this report.
The PMF condemned the airstrikes as a dangerous escalation and an assault on Iraqi sovereignty and official security institutions. Known in Arabic as the Hashed al-Shaabi, the alliance was formed in 2014 during the fight against jihadist forces and was later incorporated into Iraq's armed forces.
Its structure complicates the dispute. Iran-backed organizations maintain brigades within the PMF, but some have operated with substantial autonomy. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq brings together several of the most active pro-Iran factions and has previously claimed attacks on US bases. The supplied report said those groups had not claimed attacks since renewed US-Iran hostilities earlier in July.
The strikes placed additional pressure on Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who had pledged to bring the weapons of Iran-aligned armed groups under state control. Powerful factions resisted that policy. Zaidi had visited both the United States and Iran earlier in the month, underscoring Baghdad's attempt to balance ties with two antagonistic partners.
The initial record therefore contained competing narratives: Washington and Riyadh described retaliation against Iran-backed militants, while the PMF characterized strikes on an Iraqi security institution. The supported figures were the PMF's preliminary 20 dead and 32 wounded, including at least 10 deaths reported in Nineveh. Final casualty figures, target lists and evidence connecting particular PMF units to the preceding attacks were not supplied. No independent inspection was described.
