The spokesman for the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s Armed Forces has denounced the recent US strikes against sites and facilities of the Iraqi army and anti-terror groups as “unacceptable” and a “blatant” violation of the Arab country’s sovereignty.
Yahya Rasoul made the statement on Wednesday after the US targeted with missiles a number of sites in western Iraq, including al-Qa’im town near the Syrian border, as well as Jurf al-Nasr town in the southwest of Baghdad.
The military sites and facilities belonged to Iraq’s Armed Forces and anti-terror Iraqi resistance groups, including Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, and Katai’b Hezbollah.
“In a clear determination to harm security and stability in Iraq, the United States has resumed carrying out airstrikes against the locations of Iraqi military units from the army and the Popular Mobilization Forces, in the areas of Jurf al-Nasr and al-Qa’im,” Rasoul wrote.
“This unacceptable act … blatantly violates Iraq’s sovereignty, and contributes to an irresponsible escalation.”
بيان
•••••في إصرار واضح على الإضرار بالأمن والاستقرار في العراق، تعود الولايات المتحدة لتنفيذ ضربات جوية ضد أماكن وحدات عسكرية عراقية من الجيش والحشد الشعبي، في منطقتي جرف النصر والقائم.
وفي الوقت الذي قطعت فيه التفاهمات، بشأن دور ومهام عناصر التحالف الدولي ومستشاريه… pic.twitter.com/MSbU86Taw8
— يحيى رسول | Yehia Rasool (@IraqiSpoxMOD) January 24, 2024
The Iraqi official underlined that the US attacks were carried out at a time that the region is already grappling with the danger of expanding conflict, the repercussions of the Israeli war on Gaza, and the consequences of the immoral war of extermination faced by the Palestinian people.
“While the major powers, including the United States, remained silent regarding these crimes, we see the United States sliding into condemnable and unjustified aggressive actions against Iraqi territory and national sovereignty,” Rasoul said.
“We call on the international community to fulfill its responsibility in supporting peace and security, preventing all violations threatening Iraq’s stability and sovereignty,” he added.
The spokesman for the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s Armed Forces stressed that Baghdad will treat these operations as acts of aggression and take necessary actions to preserve the lives and dignity of Iraqis on their land.
During the latest US aggression, two people were reportedly killed and two wounded in the bombardments in al-Qa’im town.
In response, Iraqi resistance forces targeted a US-occupied military facility in neighboring Syria and Ain al-Asad Air Base in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, vowing to continue their operations against the occupation military bases.
Anti-US sentiment has been growing in Iraq since the assassination in January 2020 of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the Popular Mobilization Units, along with the region’s legendary anti-terror commander General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
They were targeted along with their companions on January 3, 2020 in a drone strike authorized by former US president Donald Trump near Baghdad International Airport.
Two days after the attack, Iraqi lawmakers approved a bill that requires the government to end the presence of all foreign military forces led by the US.
