ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A member of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) was killed in an early morning strike on a base near the Syria border, the force announced, as Iraq’s ruling Shiite coalition continues to condemn the attacks. 

Iraq has been caught in the crossfire of the US-Israeli war on Iran, with Iraqi Shiite militias loyal to Iran drawing US and Israeli airstrikes as they continue to strike US interests across the country, including in the Kurdistan Region.

On Tuesday morning, a “treacherous Zionist-American attack” on Anbar province’s al-Qaim, near the Syria border, killed a member of the PMF’s 45th Brigade, a statement from the force said.

The PMF’s 45th Brigade is linked to Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful pro-Iran armed group that has been particularly vocal with anti-US sentiment over the years. Its bases have been heavily targeted since the onset of the ongoing war.

In a statement on Tuesday, Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework said they met and “condemned the targeting of Iraqi security forces and the Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters.”

The Shiite alliance also “condemned the attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran, considering them a dangerous escalation that threatens the security and stability of the region,” according to the statement. 

Pro-Iran armed groups operating under the Islamic Resistance in Iraq have targeted US interests in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, prompting the retaliatory strikes.

Since the start of the war, US-Israeli strikes have repeatedly targeted positions of the state-incorporated PMF, which comprises dozens of armed factions that are affiliated with Iran.

The United States said previously that it had repeatedly asked Iraqi authorities to provide the locations of Iraqi security forces not involved in attacks against US interests, to avoid hitting them during strikes on PMF sites.

Reports have also emerged of Iraqi militiamen entering Iran, with footage circulating online showing what appear to be PMF convoys, made up of dozens of pick-up trucks, which Tehran-affiliated media has described as the “humanitarian aid convoys” from Iraq.