ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Iraqi government on Monday condemned as “treacherous and cowardly” a series of strikes on Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) positions in Iraq’s western Anbar province, saying at least eight PMF members were killed in the attacks. 

Several strikes on Monday targeted PMF positions in Iraq’s Anbar province, near the Syria border. The attacks are part of a wider US-Israeli campaign against Iran and its affiliated militias in the region, particularly in Iraq.

“The attack resulted in the martyrdom of eight and the injury of seven service members with varying degrees of wounds while they were performing their sacred duty in defending the homeland,” Sabah al-Numan, spokesperson for Iraq’s prime minister, said in a statement. 

Baghdad further condemned the attack as “treacherous and cowardly,” labeling it a “blatant aggression” of Iraqi sovereignty. 

The PMF is a network of Iraqi armed groups that have been integrated into the state security apparatus. It includes factions that maintain strong ties to Iran.

These factions have attracted US and Israeli airstrikes amid the current war with Iran. A number of these factions are part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), a group of pro-Iran militias that have struck US interests in Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and neighboring countries.

Pro-Iran Iraqi militia groups have also struck civilian infrastructure and diplomatic facilities in the Kurdistan Region.

The statement comes shortly after the announcement of the death of Abu Ali al-Askari, security chief and spokesperson of Iraq’s powerful pro-Iran armed group Kataib Hezbollah.

At least 32 members of Iran-aligned Iraqi militias have been killed since the onset of the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to data compiled by The New Region.