Iraqi Officials Point to Israel in Recent Attacks on Militia Storage Sites

The ongoing tension in the Middle East has led Iraqi authorities to scrutinize recent unexplained explosions at military storage sites. On Saturday, a report indicated that the Iraqi government believes Israel is likely responsible for strikes on two locations where Iran-backed groups had stored defensive weapons.

According to sources cited by the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, the targeted sites held shoulder-fired air defense systems of Chinese origin. These weapons were reportedly supplied by Tehran to militias operating within Iraq. The strikes, which occurred last week, hit the storage areas shortly after the shipments arrived. One source noted that the armed group in charge considered the specific locations very difficult to detect or reach.

The report acknowledged that the evidence for these claims is not entirely confirmed and did not specify the exact model of the Chinese systems involved. The publication also referenced a separate explosion on October 17 at a base of the Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF. This umbrella organization includes many Iranian-backed militias and serves as an Iraqi government paramilitary force. The PMF initially described the blast as an accident, and the government promised an investigation.

Asharq Al-Awsat stated that the October 17 incident hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition at a headquarters in Baghdad's East Canal area, resulting in five injuries. An anonymous Iraqi official confirmed that authorities were still investigating the circumstances, although more than a week had passed without a public update on the findings.

Other sources linked the mid-October blast to an earlier incident on October 1, when warehouses connected to Iran-backed groups in and around Baghdad were affected. These stores reportedly held drones intended for suicide attacks and reconnaissance missions. A security official indicated that while the exact nature of the strikes had not been fully determined, the evidence gathered so far pointed to Israel as the actor behind the attacks.

This is not the first time Iraqi authorities have suspected Israeli involvement in regional strikes. Iranian-backed militias previously blamed Israel for attacks in 2019 and for a strike in Albukamal, Syria, near the Iraqi border. In May, reports emerged that Israel established a secret airstrip in Iraq during its campaign against Iran. There are also unconfirmed accounts of Israeli fighter jets flying through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border with the support of midair refueling aircraft.

The strategic context remains tense as Iran has armed Iraqi militias with missiles and drones for years. Following the start of the war involving Hamas in October 2023, these groups launched numerous attacks on Israel. Since US and Israeli airstrikes began in February, Iran has sought to position Iraq as a frontline, carrying out over 1,000 strikes on the Kurdistan Region. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, a deadline agreed with Baghdad, and has advised American citizens against traveling to Baghdad.

The newspaper suggested a link between reports of China supplying weapons to Iran and the movement of these systems to Iraq, though this connection remains unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied such reports in July. Recently, an Iran-backed militia attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline with a drone from Iraq's Maysan province. That crossing is now closed due to US pressure and Iraqi concerns about trafficking. Sources in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said leaders predicted renewed war would begin with the destruction of Iraqi factions' capabilities, while the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed Iraqi airspace was being violated.