UN says concerned about recent escalation in Iraq

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – On Sunday, the United Nation’s Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, expressed his “deep concern” over a recent uptick in attacks in Iraq and the wider region.

In a statement, the United Nation’s Secretary-General called on “all sides to take immediate steps towards de-escalating the situation to prevent additional loss of life, injury, and destruction.”

The statement comes following a new rocket attack on a military base north of Baghdad on Saturday, which wounded five Iraqi soldiers and troops from the international US-led coalition against the Islamic State.

On Saturday, the Pentagon also announced that two of the three US soldiers who were wounded in the latest missile attack in Iraq were in serious condition and being treated in a military hospital in Baghdad.

Read More: Coalition, Iraqi troops wounded in second rocket attack on base north of Baghdad

The Saturday attack targeted Camp Taji, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said, adding that 33 Katyusha rockets fell on the base.

The same base came under another such attack on Wednesday, killing two Americans and one British service member on site. Approximately 12 additional personnel were also wounded, according to a coalition statement on Thursday.

Shortly after the first attack on Wednesday, airstrikes reportedly targeted bases operated by Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi militias, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), on both sides of the Syria–Iraq border. Twenty-five militiamen were reported to have been killed in the strikes.

Washington has previously blamed Iran and Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups—such as Kata’ib Hizbollah—for similar incidents at Iraqi bases hosting American forces, as well as attacks appearing to target the US embassy compound in Baghdad.

Editing by Kosar Nawzad