US calls on Iraq to punish pro-Iran militants over deadly Baghdad attack

Rudaw Net

20 hours ago

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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States on Monday called on the Iraqi government to bring the perpetrators of a deadly Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) attack on an agriculture ministry branch in Baghdad the day prior to account 'without delay" and hold an Iran-backed faction responsible.
An 'armed assault' by the PMF on an agriculture ministry office in Baghdad's Karkh district on Sunday left three people dead - a policeman, a civilian, and a member of the powerful Iran-backed Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah. Baghdad confirmed that the perpetrators of the attack were PMF members.
'We call on the Government of Iraq to take measures to bring these perpetrators and their leaders to justice without delay,' the US Embassy in Baghdad said in a statement.
It blamed the PMF-affiliated Kataib Hezbollah, a US-designated armed group, for the attack.
'We are saddened by the loss of life, which included federal police and an innocent civilian, and wish a swift recovery to the wounded,' the embassy stated.
Washington holds Kataib Hezbollah, a key player in the Iran-led 'Axis of Resistance,' responsible for numerous attacks on US assets in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October 2023.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani vowed on Sunday to hold the perpetrators accountable and ordered a probe into the attack.
'No one has the right to replace the state or its authorities, and no party is above the law,' Sudani said in an emergency security meeting following the attack.
Iraq's Shiite-led Coordination Framework also condemned the attack as a 'violation of the law and state procedures.'