Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces accused Israel of a deadly drone attack on Sunday that left at least one fighter dead, the first time the PMF has directly blamed Israel for such a raid.
The attack struck a position held by Brigade 45, a PMF unit based near Al-Qaim about 15 kilometers from Iraq's western border with neighboring Syria.
Brigade 45 is one of several units made up of Kataib Hezbollah fighters, designated by the United States as a "foreign terrorist organization".
PMF said Sunday that one fighter was killed and another seriously wounded. An earlier statement from the PMF's Anbar operations command said two fighters were killed.
It is the latest in a string of suspicious explosions and drone sightings at PMF bases, Agence France Presse reported.
Blasts have been reported at four other PMF bases since mid-July, and a fifth unit near Baghdad said on Thursday it had shot at a surveillance drone flying over its position.
PMF official Moeen al-Kazemi told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iran could improve Iraq’s air defense system to confront such drones.
“Iran’s assistance is a possibility,” he said, denying that the move could spark a dispute between the Iraqi authorities and the US.
Washington “does not have the right to reject a possible cooperation between the Iraqi government and its Iranian counterpart,” said Kazemi.
