Smoke rises after an explosion near Erbil International Airport, Iraqi Kurdistan, on 6 March 2026. [Getty]
The US has informed Iraq that it intends to intensify strikes against Iran-backed paramilitaries in the country, The New Arab’s sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Saturday.
Several of the Iraqi Shia factions inside the Popular Mobilisation Forces umbrella group have attacked American positions in the country in response the US-Israel war on Iran, as well as positions belonging to Kurdish-Iranian opposition factions.
The US has carried out several attacks against the groups since the war started a week ago but has now informed Baghdad that it intends to intensify strikes, according to an Iraqi government official who spoke to Al Araby Al Jadeed.
US forces carried out 14 missile and drone attacks against sites used by the Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada paramilitary group in Mosul in recent hours, the head of one faction said.
The Taji military base used by the al-Nujaba faction was also struck.
“Iraq has become a new front of the American and Israeli aggression,” they said.
Security sources said the headquarters of the 41st Brigade – a unit of the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq militia – was targeted on Friday evening.
The regional conflict triggered by the US-Israel attack on Iran spilled over into Iraq earlier this week after Iran-backed paramilitaries officially declared their entry into the war and began targeting US forces.
Efforts by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s government to contain the attacks have faltered, with American positions in Iraqi Kurdistan coming under drone and missile fire, including at the Harir airbase in Erbil and the US consulate in the city.
The US on Friday urged American citizens in the Kurdish autonomous region to leave, warning that pro-Iran groups could target hotels frequented by foreigners.
Separate drone attacks hit Basra airport and oil facilities in the southern region on Friday, though no-one claimed responsibility.
The US has responded with targeted strikes that have killed more than a dozen fighters, mostly from Kataib Hezbollah.
