Iraq has strongly condemned a US airstrike that targeted the country on Tuesday and killed several members of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of mostly Shia militias that was formed in 2014 to fight ISIS and are part of Iraq’s security forces.
The US attack came as Washington and Baghdad have been discussing the future of the US military presence in Iraq. US strikes against the PMF in 2023 and at the beginning of this year prompted Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to call for an end to the US-led anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq.
“Despite extensive efforts through political and diplomatic channels … in the efforts [to end] the presence and operations of the Global Coalition against Daesh (ISIS) in Iraq and transitioning to a bilateral security relationship based on mutual respect and safeguarding Iraq’s sovereignty and security, the coalition forces have committed a heinous crime and blatant aggression,” said Iraqi Maj. Gen. Yehia Rasool, a spokesman for al-Sudani.