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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — An Iran-backed militia in Iraq announced on Wednesday afternoon that they “dealt” with an unidentified drone flying above one of its Saladin province headquarters through the use of anti-aircraft weaponry.
A senior official from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic, confirmed the group fired at the drone and forced its retreat in a statement on the group's official website.
“Today morning, a drone flew above the Brigade 35 and the headquarters of Hashd al-Shaabi’s Operations headquarters. Ground-based Hashd anti-[aircraft] weaponry opened fire on it, forcing it to flee to an unknown location,” said PMF's Saladin Operations intelligence director Qathan al-Bawi.
The source of the aircraft remains unidentified, al-Bawi added. “Joint Operations Command [of the Iraqi Army] denied its knowledge of this aircraft flying.”
This is the third time the PMF has claimed to have shot at drones flying over its headquarters.
On August 26, the group claimed to have dealt with a drone flying above its Nineveh Operations Command, while on August 22, it claimed to have shot at a drone flying over one of its headquarters in the Baghdad Belt.
The PMF response to aircraft flying over its headquarters comes as some of its strategic sites have been targeted by mysterious air attacks.
On August 25, a drone allegedly struck a PMF vehicle in Anbar near the Syrian border, killing at least one of its members.
This was preceded by an arms depot explosion on August 20. A similar depot explosion in Baghdad a week earlier killed a civilian and injured 29 more.
Deputy PMF head Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis has blamed both Israel and the US for the attacks.
The US has twice denied targeting the PMF, but Israel has yet to deny responsibility.
Ongoing investigations into the attacks are “75 percent to 80 percent” complete, ministry of defense spokesperson Tahseen al-Khafaji told Rudaw on Wednesday, setting future security precautions in motion.
"We as the Ministry of Defense undertook a number of measures, including establishing control over our skies based on the commander in chief’s decision."
"We put forth the estimates of a stance and the capabilities in light of the challenges that have surfaced now, whether in the field of radar observation and detection, and in the field of countering certain targets that require a type of accurate weapons, which we need to acquire, and which we will to protect our skies,” added al-Khafaji.
Iraq has vowed to protect the PMF from foreign attack, including through the strengthening Iraq’s Air Defense capabilities.
Mansour al-Bieji, a member of the State of Law Coalition in the Iraqi parliament, said in a statement on Wednesday that Iraq may buy the Russian S-400 air defense missile system – regardless of potential opposition from the US.
“Iraq is a free country, and it is not the vassal of America or any other country. It [the US] has to understand this well, and we will not accept external interference to impose a certain course of action on Iraq, especially on the topic of armament,” added al-Beiji.
The PMF has denied that it is seeking an air force of its own after a document purportedly showing al-Muhandis order the formation of an air defense directorate was leaked.
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