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A powerful explosion rocked a military base near Baghdad on Friday, housing members of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces, which has close ties to Iran, according to multiple reports.
Israeli and American officials denied responsibility for the explosion.
The Popular Mobilization Forces said in a statement, “The explosion caused material damage and injuries.” According to Reuters.
The agency said that one of the Popular Mobilization Forces fighters was killed and six were wounded.
US Central Command said: “The United States did not launch air strikes in Iraq today.” He told Bloomberg News.
“Israel has nothing to do with the reports Explosions in Iraq“, an Israeli official He told CNN.
The explosion occurred about 20 miles south of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, at the Kalsu military base, which is the main headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces Party.
The Institute for the Study of War notes that the PMP – an official Iraqi security force – has been “infiltrated” by Iran and is being used “to exercise significant influence in Iraq.”
“Iran’s co-optation of the Popular Mobilization Forces enables Tehran to pursue its goals in Iraq while obscuring its actual participation in Iraqi internal affairs.” According to the think tank.
Popular Mobilization Forces groups are responsible for some of the hundreds of missile and drone attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since last October, when Israel declared war on Hamas.
The explosion in Iraq comes one day after Israel launched a “limited” raid that reportedly struck near a major air base in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, home to two million people and an underground uranium enrichment site.
The strike was in response to Iran's unprecedented missile and drone attack last weekend against the Jewish nation – in retaliation for the bombing of an Iranian diplomatic compound in Syria.
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