Shrapnel from bombing kills woman in Iraq: health, security officials

KUT: Shrapnel killed a woman following a strike on an arms depot belonging to an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq, health and security officials told AFP.
A security source said “a bombing targeted an arms depot at a military base,” which mainly hosts the powerful Asaib Ahl Al-Haq group, near the town of Al-Suwaira, southeast of Baghdad.
He added that “a woman was martyred when shrapnel from a rocket fell near her after the strike” in the town in Wasit province.
A local health official confirmed her death and said another person was seriously wounded.
The military base belongs to the Hashed Al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilization Forces, a former paramilitary coalition now integrated into Iraq’s regular army.
It also encompasses brigades from Iran-backed groups, including the US-blacklisted Asaib Ahl Al-Haq.
Since the start of the Middle East war, bases belonging to the Hashed Al-Shaabi have been hit several times by strikes blamed on the US and Israel.
At least 20 fighters have been killed so far, according to an AFP tally based on figures from the armed groups.
Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war, but it has not been spared.
The US designates several Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups as terrorist organizations.
Some of these groups hold seats in parliament and have seen their political and financial clout increase, such as Asaib Ahl Al-Haq.