Iraq summons US envoy after attack on military clinic kills seven

BAGHDAD — Air strikes on a military base in western Iraq’s Anbar province on Wednesday killed seven fighters and wounded 13, authorities said. The attack targeted the military healthcare clinic at the base in Habbaniyah, according to Iraq’s defense ministry. It called the attack “a heinous crime” that violated “all international laws and norms”. An Iraqi police source said the attack targeted positions of the Iraqi military’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a paramilitary force that includes some Iran-aligned brigades and reportedly shares the base with members of Iraq’s regular army. ⁠Iraqi ⁠Prime Minister Mohammed ⁠Shia al-Sudani ⁠instructed the foreign ministry ‌to summon the US charge d’affaires in ⁠Baghdad over attacks ⁠that targeted ⁠its “military units”, ⁠the ⁠prime minister’s office said ‌on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Iraqi prime minister said Baghdad would summon the Iranian and US ambassadors over the recent strikes. Iraq has denounced the attacks as the country has been dragged into the US-Israeli war on Iran. A security official quoted by the AFP news agency said the strike occurred at the same base that suffered a deadly attack the day before. Tuesday’s strike, which the PMF blamed on the US, was the deadliest in Iraq since the start of the war on Iran on February 28, It killed 15 fighters, including a commander. The attack prompted Iraq’s government to grant the PMF a “right to respond” to any attack against it, a position Baghdad reaffirmed on Wednesday. “We reserve our full right to take all necessary measures to respond to this aggression within the established legal frameworks,” the defence ministry said. Since the war began, pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region while strikes have also targeted these groups, including at government-linked positions. The US Department of Defense has acknowledged that combat helicopters have carried out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq during the current conflict. — Agencies