The US Central Command (CENTCOM) is denying reports that the US carried out airstrikes in Iraq after an explosion at a military base killed a member of an Iraqi security force.
“We know about reports saying that the United States carried out airstrikes in Iraq today,” CENCTOM said on Friday night. post on the social media platform X. “Those reports are not true. The United States did not carry out air strikes in Iraq today.”
An explosion at Kalso military base, about 30 miles south of Baghdad, killed one member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and wounded eight, according to Reuters.
A technical committee of the Iraqi military is investigating the cause of the explosion. The force commander called it an attack, and the army is probing the incident.
“The air defence command report confirmed, through technical efforts and radar detection, that there was no drone or fighter jet in the air space of Babil before and during the explosion,” the Iraqi military said, according to Reuters.
Two security sources previously said that an airstrike caused the explosion at the base, according to Reuters.
The military base housed pro-Iranian militia. The PMF includes Iran-backed groups that promote Iran’s interests in the Middle East.
The explosion occurred shortly after Israel's early Friday strike on Iran, which was in response to Tehran’s missile and drone attack on the country on April 13, a retaliation for Israel’s early April airstrike on the Iranian Consulate in Syria, which killed several IRGC officers.
The Hill has contacted CENCTOM for further comment.
