ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were targeted in extensive aerial strikes in the provinces of Kirkuk and Anbar early Thursday, killing at least 30 fighters and wounding dozens, security sources said, as the US intensifies attacks on Tehran-backed militias amid the ongoing war with Iran.

Two loud explosions were reported in Kirkuk in the early hours of Thursday when a warplane targeted a PMF base in the province’s Badr neighborhood, which led to the death of at least one fighter and left seven injured. The base contained large amounts of ammunition, which caused a large fire to break out at the site.

However, eyewitnesses claim the attack led to four deaths and 10 wounded, with official numbers currently unavailable as of the time of writing this article. 

A separate PMF base in western Anbar came under an “intense aerial strike,” according to a security source, with official figures so far reporting three killed and four wounded. However, a well-informed security source told The New Region that at least 30 were killed in the strike.

Iraq’s National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji condemned the Anbar attack as a “cowardly terrorist attack,” saying it “constitutes a blatant assault and violation of sovereignty” in a post on X.

Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, a pro-Iran group that is part of the PMF, was the main target of the Anbar strike. The group, led by Haider al-Gharawi, was previously part of Saraya al-Salam, which is affiliated with the prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. 

The militia claimed the attack was carried out by the US and Israel in the Akashat region on the Iraq-Syrian border, aiming to “create openings for terrorist organizations and reignite chaos in the region.”

The presence of the base in the area is to “safeguard the unity of Iraqi and Syrian territory and a guarantee against cutting off supply routes to the Zionist project,” according to the group.

Pro-Iran groups in Iraq have been repeatedly targeted since the breakout of the US-Israeli war on Iran in late February, with dozens of casualties among their ranks.

Iran-backed Iraqi factions have claimed responsibility for several recent attacks on US interests in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, including the US Embassy in Baghdad, the Consulate General in Erbil, and American military bases. 

The US has responded to the attacks by targeting the Iran-aligned groups, which include many factions that are incorporated into the Iraqi state security apparatus as part of the PMF.