Five fighters from an armed group close to Iran were killed Sunday night in a shelling in Iraq’s Kirkuk province, with a US official speaking of a strike “in defense”, amid a fresh escalation of regional tensions linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

The strike in northern Iraq came a day after the Iraqi government warned the US against any “attack” on its territory, even as pro-Iranian groups resumed rocket fire and drone attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria.

Yesterday an “airstrike” targeted an “installation” of an organization close to the Hasd al-Shaabi (“Popular Mobilization Units”), a paramilitary alliance now integrated into the Iraqi regular army, a senior security official in Kirkuk told AFP, making reason for five deaths.

For his part, an American officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that a “strike in defense against an immediate threat” was launched on the outskirts of Kirkuk, clarifying that it was a “drone launch facility”.

The affected area is near the border with the autonomous Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. An Iraqi police officer in the area told AFP that “debris apparently belonging to a drone” was found at the scene.

Speaking of “five dead and five wounded”, a security official in Baghdad spoke of a UAV raid, which targeted “a position of the al-Nujaba organization in the Dibbis area”.

“Denial of any attack”

The “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a nebula formed by armed organizations close to the Hasd al-Shaabi, confirmed in a laconic statement the death of five fighters.

This movement has been claiming responsibility for attacks against US forces in Iraq and Syria for weeks.

Actions certifying the consequences in the wider area of ​​Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Pro-Iranian organizations justify them by citing Washington’s support for Israel.

Last Saturday, during his dialogue with the head of American diplomacy, Anthony Blinken, the Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudaani insisted on “Iraq’s denial of any attack against Iraqi territory.”

He also reaffirmed the Iraqi government’s “commitment to protect the advisers of the international coalition present in Iraq”, referring to the US military deployed in his country as part of the international anti-jihadist coalition led by Washington.

At the end of November, in retaliation for the successive attacks of pro-Iranian organizations, there were two fatal US strikes against their fighters.

76 attacks

Washington bombed three more facilities in Syria that it described as linked to Iran.

Attacks on US military personnel were suspended during the truce between Israel and Hamas, which ended on Friday morning, again raising concerns of escalating violence across the region.

In all, the US has launched 76 attacks against its forces in Iraq and Syria since October 17, 10 days after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, according to an updated tally provided by a US official.

Earlier yesterday, rockets were fired at “US and coalition forces” at a base in eastern Syria, without causing casualties or damage, he said.

The Israel/Hamas war erupted in an unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on southern sectors of Israeli territory on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to authorities.

In retaliation, Israel’s military launched devastating bombings against the Palestinian enclave and has been conducting ground operations since October 27. According to the Hamas government’s health ministry, more than 15,500 people have been killed, 70% of whom were women and children.