New Round Of ‘Mysterious Explosions’ Hits Military Positions Near Baghdad. Reports Speculate About Israeli Strikes

#فيديو | حريق في قاعدة جوية بمحافظة صلاح الدين العراقية #العراق pic.twitter.com/r6EVOfPSTV — العين الإخبارية (@alain_4u) August 20, 2019 Several...

The post New Round Of ‘Mysterious Explosions’ Hits Military Positions Near Baghdad. Reports Speculate About Israeli Strikes appeared first on .

#فيديو | حريق في قاعدة جوية بمحافظة صلاح الدين العراقية #العراق pic.twitter.com/r6EVOfPSTV

— العين الإخبارية (@alain_4u) August 20, 2019

Several explosions hit a position held by the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (an official part of the country’s armed forces) near the Balad air base north of Baghdad on August 20, Reuters reported citing an Iraqi military official and a source in the PMU.

“Balad base hosts U.S. forces and contractors and is located about 80 km (50 miles) north of Baghdad. A PMF [PMU] group that is backed by Iran is stationed nearby.

The military official said the intended target of the blasts was the group’s position near the base. The paramilitary source said his group’s weapons depot was specifically targeted by an aerial bombardment.

The U.S.-led coalition could not immediately be reached for comment. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Witnesses said the explosions caused stored rockets to fly into nearby orchards and into Balad base itself.”

Arabic media is reporting that a base of a Shiite militia in #Iraq with ties to #Iran has been attacked.
Photos from local sources show smoking coming from the al-Bakr base in the #Saladdin Governorate north of #Baghdad.
pic.twitter.com/9wkk7GjIGi

— Mete Sohtaoğlu (@metesohtaoglu) August 20, 2019

The August 20 incident was the most recent in a series of strange explosions that hit PMU positions in the area. A previous such development took place on August 12, when a massive explosion was reported at a PMU weapons depot in southern Baghdad.

After the August 12 incident multiple reports surfaced speculating that it was caused by an Israeli strike.

On August 19, Israeli Prime Minister gave mainstream media outlets a reason to speculate that Israel may have been behind the August 20 explosion in Baghdad.

“Iran has no immunity, anywhere,” he told reporters during a briefing in his Kyiv hotel, responding to a question about recent indicdents on military installations in Iraq.

Even if Israel is not behind these incidents, Israeli politicians will exploit it to promote Israeli capabilities to ‘deter’ Iran across the region. It should be noted that the maisntream propaganda narrative argues that a notable part of the Iraqi military – the PMU – is just ‘Iranian proxies’.

MORE ON THE TOPIC:

• Satellite Image: Impact Of Explosion At Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units’ Weapons Depot In Southern Baghdad

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