Israeli Second Secret Base in Iraq Revealed by New York Times
The report said Iraqi officials confirmed the existence of another undisclosed Israeli military site in Iraq’s western desert after earlier revelations by the Wall Street Journal in March.
Erbil (Kurdistan24) - The New York Times reported on Sunday that Israel spent more than a year preparing a secret site inside Iraqi territory intended to support operations against Iran, while Iraqi officials later confirmed the existence of a second undisclosed military base in the country’s western desert.
The report referenced an incident on March 3, 2026, involving a truck driver traveling toward the town of Nukhaib in western Iraq, where a helicopter reportedly pursued and repeatedly fired at the vehicle before it was stopped and burned in the middle of the desert.
According to the New York Times, the attack came after 29-year-old Shephered Awad Al-Shammari allegedly stumbled upon a covert Israeli military installation during his journey through the desert region.
The newspaper reported that Shammari’s family said he contacted Iraqi military authorities after observing soldiers, helicopters, and tents near the reported Israeli site. The family claimed the discovery ultimately cost him his life.
The report added that Iraqi security officials later confirmed the existence of a second undeclared military installation in Iraq’s western desert, separate from an earlier site first revealed by the Wall Street Journal on March 6.
In its March report, the Wall Street Journal claimed Israel had established a covert operational base inside Iraq ahead of the war with Iran, allegedly to support rescue operations, logistics, and emergency missions linked to Israeli military activity targeting Iran.
According to the earlier Wall Street Journal report, the installations were believed to be located in remote desert areas near Iraq’s western border regions, where military movement is difficult to monitor and sparsely populated terrain offers operational cover.
The latest revelations are likely to intensify political and security tensions inside Iraq, where armed factions aligned with Iran have repeatedly warned against any Israeli military presence on Iraqi soil.
Neither Israeli officials nor the Iraqi government publicly commented on the New York Times report at the time of publication.