News, US counter-attacks in Iraq and Syria, tensions in the Middle East and more

At least 16 people, including civilians, were killed and 25 others injured in US air strikes against Iraq on Friday, according to a statement from an Iraqi government spokesman.

The attacks included the Akashat region and the city of al-Qaim, near the Syrian border, “where our security forces are deployed, along with surrounding civilian sites,” according to the government statement, which it described as “aggression against Iraq’s sovereignty.”

Local officials in Anbar province said the airstrikes targeted positions used by the militia, known as the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), or Hashd al Shaabi.

According to Imad al-Dulaimi, mayor of Rutba, most of those killed and wounded in the Akashat area are PMU fighters.

Al-Qaim mayor Turki al-Mahlawi said US airstrikes hit the Siqaka compound in the city of al-Qaim in Anbar province, where the PMU has three houses that they use as weapons storage and offices.

In 2016, the Iraqi Parliament passed a bill recognizing the predominantly Shia paramilitary PMU as a government entity working alongside the Iraqi military.

The US administration has always considered the PMU to be an Iran-backed militia and has blamed some of them for carrying out attacks on US sites in Iraq and Syria.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the United States had informed the Iraqi government of its plans before carrying out the attack. But the Iraqi government has denied that claim, saying the United States is “misleading international public opinion.”

The US side “deliberately deceived and distorted the facts, claiming that there was coordination with Iraqi authorities to carry out this aggression, in order to deceive international public opinion and avoid legal responsibility for this act.” An unfounded claim made.” The conviction, (carried out) is a violation of international law,” the statement said.

The government statement said such attacks would “threaten the security situation in Iraq and the region, jeopardizing ongoing efforts to establish essential stability.”