The Iraqi Foreign Ministry expressed “rejection and condemnation of any air operations targeting forces in areas where they are fighting ISIS, whether in Iraq or Syria or any other area where there is a battlefield against this enemy that threatens humanity.”
The ministry also asked that all countries cooperate against “extremist groups.”
The Syrian and Iraqi governments both charged that the United States was responsible for the airstrike overnight Sunday on Al-Hari, a town near the border with Iraq, that is controlled by militias.
A statement from Hashd al-Shaabi, which is also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and is the most powerful of the Iraqi militias, charged that “US planes fired two guided missiles at a fixed position of Hashed al-Shaabi units on the border with Syria, killing 22 fighters and wounding 12.”
The United States has denied the air strike. A U.S. official told CNN that Israel was responsible for the airstrike. Israel has not said anything about the attack.
However, on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would not tolerate an Iranian presence in Syria, and that “we will take action – and are already taking action – against efforts to establish a militarily presence by Iran and its proxies in Syria both close to the border and deep inside Syria. We will act against these efforts anywhere in Syria.”
In recent months, Israel has hit Iranian military sites in Syria, including dozens of these targets one night last month in response to Iranian rocket attacks against Israel.
[Photo: CGTN / YouTube ]
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