ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) announced Wednesday that at least three of its personnel were killed in a "Zionist-American attack" on two separate bases in Anbar province, including the headquarters of the PMF's Anbar operations chief Qassim Musleh.

"At 4:10 PM, the headquarters of the Anbar Operations Commander of the PMF, Qassim Musleh, in the Qaim district, west of Anbar province, as well as the headquarters of the 2nd Regiment of the 45th Brigade, were subjected to a treacherous Zionist-American attack targeting security points that have long defended Iraq during the war against the ISIS [Islamic State] terrorist organization and maintained security on the ground," the PMF said in a statement.

The statement asserted that three fighters were killed in the strikes and others wounded, adding that further details will be provided at a later point.

The US and Israel have repeatedly targeted PMF sites since launching a large-scale military offensive against Iran in late February, with pro-Iran PMF factions having conducted missile and drone strikes against US interests in both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

Officially under the auspices of the Iraqi state, the activities of PMF factions have drawn outspoken condemnation from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which has repeatedly urged Baghdad to rein in their activities amid near-daily bombardment of the Kurdistan Region.

US and Israeli strikes have killed dozens of PMF members, including Abu Ali al-Askari, security chief and spokesperson of one of Iraq’s most powerful pro-Iran armed groups, Kataib Hezbollah.

The Iraqi government has on numerous occasions condemned strikes targeting members of the armed umbrella group.

"Iran-aligned PMF groups are stuck between a rock and a hard place: they are compelled to back their Iranian patrons but they have to be aware of the sensitivities of their institutional leaders in Baghdad," Nicholas Heras, the Executive Director at the Washington-based Middle East Policy Council, told The New Region.

Qassim Musleh was born in Karbala and was arrested by the Saddam Hussein regime in the 1990s over his alleged involvement in Shiite anti-government activities, later being arrested by US forces following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that led to the fall of the Ba'athist regime.

Musleh was arrested by Iraqi forces in 2021 for involvement in the killing of civil society activists in Karbala but was later released.