Iraq-Syria border strikes on pro-Iran ‘militias’ spark retaliation
Airstrikes on both sides of the Iraqi-Syrian border near Qaim conducted by the United States were followed by retaliatory strikes by Iran-linked groups against a Kurdish-led SDF base housing coalition forces in eastern Syria.
On June 29, four coffins draped in the Iraqi flag were carried through central Baghdad streets packed with people taking part in a symbolic funeral procession protest.
US airstrikes on June 27 near the city of Qaim on the country’s border with Syria killed four members of what a Pentagon spokesperson said were “Iran-backed militia groups responsible for the series of recent attacks against facilities housing US personnel in Iraq.”
The Shia-led, government-incorporated Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) held the procession not far from the Green Zone, where many embassies and government offices are located.
The four killed were fighters from Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada’s 14th Brigade, which is part of the government-incorporated PMU. But Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada as a whole belongs to the Iran-linked “muqawama" (resistance). Though most of its fighters are Iraqis, it has for years been fighting across the border in Syria as well.
