The United States on Tuesday carried out a strike in Iraq in self-defense, a US official told Reuters, just hours after Israel struck Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon and as tensions soar in the Middle East.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the strike was carried out because of a threat to US-led coalition forces.
Blasts inside a base used by Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), an official state security agency containing several Iran-aligned armed groups, south of Baghdad on Tuesday killed three members and wounded four others, police and medical sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The initial death toll was one, but two people who were critically injured in the blasts later died, hospital sources said.
The blasts came after multiple rockets were launched at Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase housing US-led forces late on Thursday, US and Iraqi sources said, with no damage or casualties reported.
Iranian state media Mehr News Agency claimed that the loud explosions were a drone attack.
The attack in Babil province in Iraq targeted Hezbollah weapons depots, Ynet reported, citing Saudi television network Al Arabiya.
Additionally, the Saudi television channel Al Hadath reported that the attack was aimed at a drone manufacturing facility at the location.
Two Iraqi PMF local commanders accused the US of carrying out airstrikes that targeted the PMF base. There was no immediate response from the US military.
Ambulances rushed to the area where the camp is located, 50 km (30 miles) south of Baghdad, said witnesses.
Increasing attacks in Iraq
Saudi TV channel Al-Hadath also reported that Israel intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iraq to Eilat.
Terror groups in Iraq have increasingly targeted US military bases and attempted attacks on Israel.
Iraq, a rare ally of both Tehran and Washington, which hosts 2,500 US troops and has Iran-backed militias linked to its security forces, has witnessed escalating tit-for-tat attacks since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.