ISTANBUL

Two airstrikes hit a position belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in western Iraq on Sunday evening, killing four and wounding 11, said Iraq’s Joint Operations Command.

In a statement, the Security Media Cell, a media outlet affiliated with the command, said the attack targeted a position of the PMF’s 45th Brigade in the Akashat area at 9 pm local time (1800GMT).

Earlier, the Popular Mobilization Forces Authority announced that the strikes were from US-Israeli air raids targeting their security positions in western Iraq. The PMF said that after members gathered to evacuate the wounded from the initial strikes, US-Israeli aircraft bombed the area again.

Further details would be provided once investigations are completed, it added.

The PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi, was originally formed on June 14, 2014 as a volunteer force supporting Iraqi security forces in the fight against the ISIS (Daesh) terror group. It was formally incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces by a government decree in 2016.

The PMF was established in response to a fatwa, or religious ruling, issued by Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, to confront the expansion of ISIS.

Regional tensions escalated Saturday after the US and Israel launched an attack on Iran, killing several top Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehran retaliated with a series of drone and missile attacks that targeted Israel, US assets and several Gulf countries.

The strikes on the PMF came amid operations by Iraqi factions under the so-called “Islamic resistance” against US bases, coinciding with the broader Israeli-US offensive against Iran.

Israel and the US launched the strikes despite Iran making progress in indirect nuclear negotiations with the US, according to the Omani mediator and US officials.

It marked the second time that Israel has disrupted the US-Iran negotiation track following an offensive in June 2025.