An unmanned drone bombed a base used by pro-Tehran paramilitary units in central Iraq, the country's military announced Friday, with sources saying one fighter was killed and two Iranians wounded.

The US immediately denied involvement in the attack, which took place overnight between Thursday and Friday in an ethnically and religiously mixed area north of Baghdad.

It comes as Iraq struggles to keep rising tensions between Iran and the United States -- arch-rivals but both allies of Baghdad -- from spilling over onto its soil.

"The Al-Shuhada base of the Hashed al-Shaabi in the Amerli region was hit at dawn... by an unidentified drone, wounding two people," the Iraqi military said in a statement on Friday.

But an official from the Hashed al-Shaabi, a network of Iraqi paramilitary units dominated by pro-Iran Shiite forces, and a police officer both gave a toll of one Iraqi fighter dead and two people wounded.

The police source, who visited the site of the attack, said the two wounded were "Iranian military engineers".

Pentagon spokesman Sean Robertson said "US forces were not involved" in the attack.

Iran says it does not have forces officially deployed in Iraq, but observers say Iranian advisors regularly train Iraqi forces, including the Hashed.

The Hashed is largely opposed to the United States, which has slapped sanctions on some of its leaders for ties to Iran.

The US, meanwhile, has an estimated 5,200 troops based across the country in training and advisory roles.

In recent months, a string of rocket attacks have targeted bases where US troops are stationed, sparking concern of a potential confrontation between the US and Iran on Iraqi soil.

Iraq Kurds arrest two suspects in killing of Turkish vice consul
Arbil, Iraq (AFP) July 20, 2019 - Iraqi Kurdish authorities announced Saturday they had arrested two suspects involved in the murder of three people, including a Turkish diplomat, in the regional capital Arbil this week.

The autonomous region's security council first said its counterterrorism unit had arrested "the main perpetrator" Mazloum Dag, a 27-year-old from Turkey's Diyarbakir region.

The council had put out a wanted notice for Dag a day earlier in connection to Wednesday's killing of Turkish Vice Consul Osman Kose and two Iraqi nationals.

It later announced it had also arrested Mohammad Biskesiz, identifying him as "one of the accomplices of Mazloum Dag".

It did not specify Biskesiz's nationality or whether he was apprehended with Dag or separately.

Turkey's Anadolu state news agency said Dag is the brother of Dersim Dag, a member of Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party, the People's Democratic Party (HDP).

The HDP, the country's second largest opposition group, is regularly accused by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of links to Turkey's outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The HDP "strongly" condemned the Arbil attack, calling it an "absolutely unacceptable provocation attempt".

It also slammed the accusation that one of its deputies was "designated as a target because of his brother", without mentioning any names.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Ankara on Thursday launched a "comprehensive air operation" against the PKK in Iraqi Kurdistan's Qandil mountain area.

Since May, Turkey has been conducting a ground offensive and bombing campaign against Qandil to root out the PKK, considered a "terror organisation" by Ankara for its three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

Other air strikes Thursday night targeted "PKK bases and members" in the Makhmur area south of Iraq's northern city of Mosul, wounding two in a displacement camp, local sources told AFP.

The attack on Wednesday saw at least one gunman with two pistols fire on a group of diplomats in a restaurant in Arbil.

Kose and one Iraqi died Wednesday, while the second Iraqi succumbed to his wounds overnight.

Related Links
Iraq: The first technology war of the 21st century

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Iraq's former prime minister Abadi hints at comeback
Baghdad (AFP) July 13, 2019
Iraqi ex-prime minister Haider al-Abadi is eyeing a sequel to his turbulent single term, he hinted to AFP, warning a failure to tackle sectarianism and corruption risks seeing his country "fall apart". As the government of incumbent Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi faces growing criticism over poor services, Abadi has been working in the wings to secure a second term, according to multiple sources. "We have good intentions," he said coyly, when asked about his ambitions in a wide-ranging AFP inte ... read more