Airstrikes hit base of Iraqi paramilitary

Baghdad, July 27 Two airstrikes hit a base belonging to the Iraqi paramilitary Hashd Shaabi or the Popular Mobilization Forces in Najaf province, south of the capital Baghdad, according to an official statement.

In the statement, the forces said that the first airstrike, carried out by a drone at 3.30 p.m. on Monday targeted an ammunition warehouse at the base housing paramilitary Imam Ali Division, reports Xinhua news agency.

Later, another drone launched the second airstrike on the same military base at 5.30 p.m., the statement said, adding that the attacks came after a reconnaissance operation in the early hours of the day.

The statement gave no further detail about the attacks but said that more details will be released later.

The Imam Ali Division is a Shia militia affiliated with the Hashd Shaabi.

Camps belonging to the Hashd Shaabi forces have been frequently attacked.

The Shia militant groups has repeatedly accused the US and Israel of such attacks on their bases in Iraq.

The relation between the Hashd Shaabi and US forces in Iraq were strained after January 3, 2020, when an American drone struck a convoy near the Baghdad airport, which killed Qasem Soleimani, former commander of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, deputy chief of the Hashd Shaabi forces.