US-Saudi strikes in Iraq kill 20: former paramilitaries

US-Saudi strikes on Iraq on Wednesday killed at least 20 members of a former paramilitary alliance that includes pro-Iran groups, the alliance said.

The United States and Saudi Arabia said they had struck Iran-backed militants in Iraq in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. Washington and Tehran are Iraq's main allies, but their enmity has long turned the country into a proxy battleground and left successive governments struggling to maintain a delicate balance between the foes.

Read more: Saudi Arabia says it struck Iran-backed groups in Iraq with US coordination


The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an alliance of former paramilitary groups and factions now integrated into the Iraqi armed forces, said at least 20 fighters "were martyred and another 32 wounded according to a preliminary toll". It added that the US-Saudi "aggression" targeted PMF bases in seven provinces, including Baghdad, Nineveh in northern Iraq and Basra in the
country's south, causing material damage as well.

It denounced a "dangerous escalation" against an "official security institution". A PMF official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the strikes in Nineveh and the central Diyala province were the deadliest. The PMF was created in 2014 to fight jihadists before it was formally integrated into the armed forces. But it also includes brigades belonging to Iran-backed groups which have a reputation of acting on their own.

The US-Saudi strikes came after Riyadh said its forces had intercepted drones targeting oil facilities in the east, blaming Iran-backed groups in Iraq, which described the accusations as "fabrications" and warned Saudi Arabia against attacking Iraq.
The latest strikes come amid growing US pressure on Baghdad to disarm pro-Iran armed groups.

Iraq's new Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, who came to power this year with Washington's blessing, vowed to ensure those groups would hand over their weapons, but has faced pushback from some powerful factions. Earlier this month, Zaidi visited both the United States and Iran.

Read more: US shoots down Iranian missile as Saudi joins strikes against Iran-backed militias

The most active pro-Iran armed groups are united under an alliance known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has acted in support of Tehran during the Middle East war, claiming hundreds of attacks against US bases in Iraq and across the region. But they have not claimed any attacks since hostilities between the US and Iran resumed earlier this month.