ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC) on Thursday denied reports claiming that Yemen’s Houthi rebel group had used military training camps inside the country.

Reports have circulated in recent days suggesting that the Houthis have been receiving training and support in a training camp in the Khalis area in Diyala, northeast Iraq.

“While we deny this news completely, we call for accuracy in transmitting information,” said the JOC in a statement on Thursday.

The reports come amid heightening tensions between the Houthis and the US, as well as American pressure on Iraq to curb Iranian influence.

Over the past week, US forces have carried out a series of strikes targeting Houthi-held areas in Yemen over the group’s continued attacks on ships in the Red Sea, which they say are carried out in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

US strikes on Yemen on Saturday killed over 50 people and injured nearly 100 others.

“Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force, and there is no guarantee that that force will stop there,” said US President Donald Trump on Monday.

Despite the American threats, the Houthis have continued their attacks in recent days, targeting the USS Harry S. Truman carrier group with missiles and drones in the northern Red Sea. The group has also claimed responsibility for ballistic missile attacks on Ben Gurion airport in central Israel.