The revelations about a clandestine makeshift military base that Israel had set up in Iraq during the US-Israeli war on Iran has caused uproar in Iraq.
With western media revealing details about the base, Iraqi authorities have yet to comment on the revelations.
Israeli forces established a makeshift base using an old airstrip in Iraq's desert during the war against Iran, two security officials told AFP on Sunday, confirming a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Early in the war, which was ignited by joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, the troops were detected in the Najaf desert in the country's southwest and clashed with Iraqi forces, killing one soldier and wounding two others.
The security official said "Israeli forces established a base in an abandoned airstrip in the Najaf desert".
"There are no longer forces there, but they may have left equipment," he said, adding that the Israeli operation "was in coordination with the US".
It was unclear how long the forces were there or what their mission was.
Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war from the outset, with strikes blamed on the US and Israel targeting Iran-backed armed groups, which in turn launched hundreds of attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the Gulf region.
Reports of foreign troops in the Najaf desert emerged early in the war after a shepherd reported seeing military activity.
On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that "Israel set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran", quoting people familiar with the matter including US officials.
The report said that "Israel built the installation, which housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, just before the war started with the knowledge of the US".
Israel’s Maariv said on Sunday that the "clandestine Israeli base in the Iraqi desert" boasted Israeli commandos.
The Israeli military did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
Following the WSJ report, an Iraqi security spokesperson referred journalists to a previous statement issued on March 5.
At the time, Qais al-Mohamadawi, Iraq's deputy commander of joint operations, had told state media that Iraq protested to the US-led anti-ISIS coalition stationed in the country about an air raid in Najaf.
He said that after receiving reports of "individuals or movement in the Najaf" desert, Iraq's military sent a force to investigate.
The troops came under heavy aerial fire, leaving one soldier dead and two others wounded.
Reinforcements later searched the area, but "did not find anything", Mohamadawi said.
He added that at the site in Najaf, "one force was providing support to another that was conducting reconnaissance or setting up equipment".
He said no foreign troops were authorized to be in that location.
Another security official told AFP on Sunday that there were "indications that the operation involved an Israeli technical team under American military protection".
"There are no longer military personnel there," though they left equipment behind, including a radar, probably used for jamming.
The site was hidden in a valley, "a location chosen carefully to avoid Iranian missile strikes", the official said.
The Najaf desert is vast and largely uninhabited, making it difficult for Iraqi forces to maintain tight security there.
The WSJ's sources said that Israel "deployed search-and-rescue teams there so they could respond more quickly if needed for emergency rescue missions".
‘Grave’ security flaws
Iraqi authorities have come under strong criticism over the past two days. A source close to the government said the revelations about the Israeli base underscore the "grave flaws in the Iraqi security forces’ ability in protecting the country and securing its borders."
The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that "Iraq boasts over 1.5 million security forces and over 6 billion dollars a year are spent on them, and yet, they failed in protecting the country."
Security expert Mukhlid Hazem revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the Israeli force remained in Iraq around five to seven days before Iraqi security commanders made intense contacts with the Americans to make them leave.
He said prominent military commanders in the Defense Ministry were aware of the foreign forces that were deployed there, but they did not know where they came from.
They contacted the anti-ISIS coalition to inquire about them and were informed that they also were not aware of them.
Hazem said the Israelis chose to deploy in that area to establish an advanced operations center that would secure the passage of their jets over the region and also provide telecommunications technology for the aircraft that were operating over Iran.
The location was chosen because it lies in a remote desert area that is not protected by Iraqi forces, he explained.
The authorities had also closed Iraq’s airspace and banned the use of drones, "which allowed the hostile forces to exploit the situation," he added.
"The development is a dangerous violation of Iraqi sovereignty. We need an integrated security vision for the upcoming phase to handle similar situations," urged Hazem.
