The Iraqi government denies prior coordination of US strikes and confirms the toll of casualties and wounded
Bassem Al-Awadi, the spokesman for the Iraqi government, denied on Saturday that Baghdad and Washington had previously coordinated over the American-led strikes that targeted the positions of security forces in the Anbar Governorate in the country’s west. He also confirmed that the “aggression” had resulted in 16 fatalities and 25 injuries.
“The American administration committed a new aggression against the sovereignty of Iraq,” stated Al-Awadi in a statement released today. “Several American aircraft bombed our security forces’ locations in the Akashat and Al-Qaim regions, as well as neighboring civilian places.”
“This blatant aggression led to 25 wounded and 16 martyrs, including civilians,” he continued. Additionally, it resulted in losses and harm to residents’ belongings and residential structures.
The American side then purposefully misled and fabricated the facts by claiming that there had been prior coordination to carry out this aggression, Al-Awdi added. This is a false claim meant to mislead public opinion worldwide and absolve legal responsibility for this rejected crime in compliance with all national and international laws.
“This aggressive strike contradicts efforts to establish the necessary stability and will put security in Iraq and the region on the verge of collapse,” he continued.
“Iraq reiterates its refusal to let its lands be an arena for settling scores, and all parties must realize this,” the federal government official continued. The territory and sovereignty of our nation are not the proper venues for adversaries to engage in forceful communication.
He emphasized that “Iraq’s security and stability are now threatened, and its involvement in regional and international conflicts is justified by the existence of the international coalition, which strayed from the tasks assigned to it and the mandate granted to it.”
“The Iraqi government will make every effort required by moral, national, and constitutional responsibility to protect our land, our cities, and the lives of our children in all types of armed forces,” Al-Awadi said in his last remarks.
This morning, the Popular Mobilization Forces’ Anbar Operations Command announced that over forty of its members had been killed or injured as a result of the American bombing that targeted their positions in the governorate, which is situated in western Iraq.
“The 13th Al-Tafuf Brigade lost 16 martyrs and 25 wounded as a result of the cowardly American aggression on the Al-Anbar Operations Sector of the PMF,” the leadership stated in a statement it released.
Spokesman for the White House National Security Council John Kirby reaffirmed on Saturday that before to the commencement of the airstrikes, the Iraqi government was notified.
“The American response began tonight, and will not end tonight,” Kirby said.
“We believe that the strikes were successful, and we do not know how many militants may have been killed or injured,” the American official stated.
All airstrikes in Syria and Iraq were successful in reaching their objectives, according to confirmation from the White House.
“Groups affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard use the facilities that were targeted to target American forces in the Middle East,” Kirby said.
Since the three American soldiers were killed in northern Jordan, he stated, “there have been no contacts with Iran.”
The Quds Force of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its linked militia organizations were the targets of 85 airstrikes carried out by US Army forces in Iraq and Syria before daybreak today, according to a report from the US Army’s Central Command.
US President Joe Biden stated that, while the US was not seeking an escalation in the Middle East, it would inevitably respond to those who hurt Americans. He had ordered the military forces to strike targets in Iraq and Syria that were used by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and its militias to attack American forces.
Major General Yahya Rasoul, the spokesperson for the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, stated on Saturday morning that the US attacks that targeted regions in the country’s west were a “violation of Iraqi sovereignty.”
Although John Kirby, a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, stated today, Saturday, that the US had previously notified the Iraqi government before to initiating the airstrikes.
