The US military reportedly carried out airstrikes on the headquarters of the Iran-backed Shiite militia (PMF) and on a residence of its leader on Tuesday, in an escalation of attacks on Tehran’s prized militias.
The latest U.S. military strikes follow a statement last week from Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who said AH-64 helicopters have “targeted Iran-targeted militias to ensure we suppress any threat in Iraq against U.S. forces or U.S. interests.”
In what appears to be an Iraqi threat against the US, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said in a statement on Tuesday: “In light of the unjustified attacks and serious violations of Iraqi sovereignty, including the targeting of official security headquarters, the Council has decided the following: to confront and respond to military attacks carried out by military aircraft and drones targeting the headquarters and formations of the Popular Mobilization Forces Commission and other formations of our armed forces, using the available means, consistent with the right to respond and self-defense.”
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Smoke rises from the U.S. Embassy building in Baghdad, Iraq, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (Ali Jabar/AP Photo)
Sudani also said the Iraqi Foreign Ministry plans to summon the US charge d’affaires and separately the Iranian ambassador on Wednesday. The PMF is part of the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Sudani.
According to the Times of Israel, a new airstrike hit the PMF in western Iraq on Wednesday. “Two missiles were fired from a fighter jet” at a base in Anbar province, a security official said. The Anbar base was also reportedly hit by US forces on Tuesday.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani chairs negotiations between Iraq and the United States to end the International Coalition Mission in Baghdad, Iraq, on January 27, 2024. President Joe Biden will host Al Sudani on Monday, April 15, for talks that come as tensions have risen in the Middle East over the war in Gaza and Iran’s threats to retaliate for an Israeli military attack on an Iranian facility in Syria. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, swimming pool)
The PMF has launched attacks on the US Embassy in Baghdad, Israel and other US assets in the region, especially in the Kurdish region of Iraq, following the joint US-Israel attack on the Islamic Republic on February 28. Over the years, the PMF has been accused of killing American military personnel in the Middle East.
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PMF leader Falih al-Fayadh was not present on Tuesday when his home in the northern city of Mosul was hit. At least 15 PMF terrorists were killed in other airstrikes that hit a group headquarters in Iraq’s Anbar province in the Euphrates Valley, according to sources and a statement from the group.
Supporters gather in Baghdad’s Sadr district with Iranian flags and posters of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after announcing that he was killed in US-Israeli attacks, on March 1, 2026 (Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The Kurdish official added: “Why does the Iraqi government continue to pay those it itself labels as terrorists and criminals? There are four main groups: Harakat al-Nujaba, Kataeb Hezbollah, Kataeb Sayyid al-Shuhada and Asaib Ahl al-Haq. This government is unwilling to defend its own interests, let alone those of its partners. At this point, the distinction between the PMF and the state is increasingly difficult to distinguish.”
She said the recent strikes clearly “show that the US is tired of this meaningless distinction,” Tsurkov said. She emphasized that “the entire PMF structure is a problem.”
Tsurkov, who was held hostage in Iraq for two and a half years by the pro-Iranian regime, Kataib Hezbollah, said: “The US has enormous influence over Iraq. The US can impose sanctions on certain ministries and certain directors general.” She added that the US could also sanction Iraqi banks that transfer money to Iran.
An explosion is reported near the US Consulate and the Erbil International Airport area, which is also home to a US military base, in Erbil, Iraq, causing a fire and thick smoke to rise after the explosion, on March 12, 2026. (Ahsan Mohammed Ahmed Ahmed/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Tsurkov said the PMF is highly sensitive to US attacks on their top leaders.
The PMF movement is reeling from the devastating alleged US airstrikes. The dead included the operational commander, Saad al-Baiji. The statement said US forces attacked a command headquarters in Anbar while personnel were on duty. The security sources said the attacks took place during a meeting attended by senior commanders.
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The official continued: “As Secretary Rubio has said, the Iraqi government must take all measures to protect U.S. diplomatic personnel and facilities and ensure that militia groups cannot use Iraqi territory to threaten the United States, our Iraqi partners, or the region. This is in Iraq’s best interests. Continued attacks by Iranian-backed militias undermine Iraq’s stability and risk pushing Iraq into a broader regional conflict.”
Members of Shia radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army parade in the Shia Sadr neighborhood of Baghdad on April 3, 2004. Sadr’s followers have demonstrated almost daily to protest the coalition’s decision to close his weekly newspaper, al-Hawza al-Natiqa, for 60 days on charges of inciting violence. (Ahmed Labib/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a security alert: “Iraq, Iran-aligned terrorist militias have conducted widespread attacks on U.S. citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq, including the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR). U.S. citizens must leave Iraq now.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
