Air strikes hit Iraq base and kill seven fighters, but what was inside the targeted clinic is raising alarms

Air strikes in Iraq’s Anbar province killed seven fighters and injured 13 more on Wednesday, hitting a military healthcare clinic at a base in Habbaniyah. As detailed by Al Jazeera, Iraq’s Ministry of Defence condemned the strike as “a heinous crime” that violates international laws and norms.

An Iraqi police source confirmed the strikes targeted positions belonging to the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a paramilitary group that includes brigades aligned with Iran. The PMF shares the Habbaniyah base with members of Iraq’s regular army.

The incident marks the first time the PMF appears to have been struck alongside the broader Iraqi military. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s office announced the day prior that Baghdad would summon both the Iranian and US ambassadors to address the recent strikes.

Iraq granting the PMF the right to respond is a significant shift in the conflict

The Habbaniyah base had also been hit the day before in a separate attack. That Tuesday strike, which the PMF blamed on the US, was the deadliest in Iraq since the conflict began on February 28, killing 15 fighters including a commander.

In response, Iraq’s government granted the PMF a “right to respond” to any aggression. Baghdad reaffirmed that position on Wednesday, with the Defence Ministry stating it would “take all necessary measures to respond to this aggression within the established legal frameworks.” The US Department of Defense has acknowledged that combat helicopters have been carrying out strikes against pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq throughout the conflict, amid wider concerns about Trump’s military posture toward Iran following a brief five-day pause on strikes announced earlier this week.

Since the war began, pro-Iran armed groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests across Iraq and the wider region. In turn, those groups have been targeted, at times at positions linked to the Iraqi government itself.

Assed Baig, reporting from Baghdad, said the latest strikes represent “an escalation in terms of the PMF being targeted.” Analysts have noted that warnings from senior US officials about the risks of expanding ground operations in the region have so far gone unheeded as strikes inside Iraq continue.