Iraq Suspects Israel Behind Militia Warehouse Strikes

More than 1,000 drone and missile attacks have targeted the Kurdistan Region in recent months, a figure that underscores the escalating intensity of regional hostilities. Against this backdrop of sustained bombardment, Iraqi authorities now believe Israel was responsible for recent strikes on two specific locations. These sites were used by Iran-backed militias to store shoulder-fired air defense systems of Chinese origin. According to sources cited on Saturday by the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Tehran reportedly supplied the weapons in question.

The timeline of these developments began with an incident on October 1. Warehouses linked to groups aligned with Iran in and around Baghdad were affected during this earlier event. Reports indicated that these storage facilities held drones intended for both suicide attacks and reconnaissance missions. Following that initial incident, a second series of strikes occurred last week. Iraqi security officials stated that while they had not definitively determined the nature of the attacks, available evidence led them to believe Israeli forces were behind the actions.

The October 17 explosion at a Popular Mobilization Forces base added another layer to the sequence of events. The PMF, a paramilitary umbrella organization that includes many Iranian-backed groups, initially described the blast as an accident. The Iraqi government promised an investigation into the incident, which reportedly hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition at a headquarters in Baghdad's East Canal area. Five people were injured in the explosion. However, more than a week has passed without a formal update from authorities, and an anonymous Iraqi official confirmed that the circumstances remain under review.

Sources connected to the armed groups involved in the storage of the Chinese-made systems claimed the locations were selected for their difficult reach and low detectability. The suspected strikes came shortly after the shipments arrived at both sites. The newspaper noted that while the report did not specify the exact model of the air defense system, it acknowledged that parts of its claims could not be fully confirmed. This lack of definitive evidence has left some questions open regarding the precise mechanics of the strikes.

This is not the first time Iraqi entities have pointed to Israel for similar actions. Iranian-backed militias previously blamed Israeli forces for strikes in 2019 and an incident in Albukamal, Syria, near the Iraqi border. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel established a secret airstrip in Iraq during its campaign against Iran. Additionally, unconfirmed accounts suggest Israeli fighter jets have flown through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border, supported by midair refueling aircraft. These reports highlight the complex and often opaque nature of military operations in the region.

Iran has armed Iraqi militias for years, providing them with missiles and drones capable of threatening Israel. After Hamas began its war on October 7, 2023, these groups carried out numerous attacks on Israel. Since the United States and Israel began airstrikes in February, Tehran has sought to turn Iraq into a frontline. Allied militias and Iran have mounted 600 attacks across the country, some targeting US diplomatic sites. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, adhering to a deadline agreed upon with Baghdad over previous years. Washington has also warned Americans against traveling to Baghdad.

The newspaper appeared to link earlier reports of China supplying weapons to Iran with the movement of these same systems to Iraq, though it described that connection as unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied those reports on July 28. Separately, an Iran-backed militia attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline with a drone, reportedly launched from Iraq's Maysan province. The crossing has since been closed amid US pressure and Iraqi concerns about trafficking. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of militias that has attacked both Israel and the US in the past, published a statement claiming that Iraqi airspace was being violated.

Asharq Al-Awsat concluded that these strikes signal the start of a new round of conflict. A source in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework noted that ruling party leaders had spent weeks predicting that renewed war between Washington and Tehran would begin with the total destruction of the Iraqi factions' capabilities. Most major groups in the PMF, with the exception of the Badr Organization, have been sanctioned by the US as terrorist organizations. As the situation evolves, the lack of official confirmation from Baghdad leaves the full scope of the operations uncertain.