Strong explosions occurred on 20 August near the base of the Iraqi air force, “al-Bakr”, located in the province of Salah al-DIN, approximately 70 km North of Baghdad

Ayoub Mohammed / YouTube

A few kilometers from the base, “al-Bakr” the training base of the American army and the coalition forces

Sgt. Quentin Johnson / DVIDS

Strong explosions occurred on 20 August near the base of the Iraqi air force, “al-Bakr”, located in the province of Salah al-DIN, approximately 70 km North of Baghdad. According to some reports, the explosions took place at the rocket warehouse Shiite Pro-Iranian militia “Kataib Imam Ali” (“the Battalions of Imam Ali”), a member of the coalition of Forces of popular mobilization “al-Hashd al-SHAABI”.

The website Kurdistan24 notes that in several kilometers from the base, “al-Bakr” the training base of the American army and coalition forces. According to eyewitnesses, some exploding rockets flew in the direction of the American base. Information on casualties among the US military didn’t arrive.

Some media reported about the dead and wounded, including among the civilian population. Media associated with Hizbullah, claim that there were no injuries. The representative of the Ministry of defence of Iraq-Tahsin khafājī said that near the scene is a warehouse of weapons and ammunition of the regular Iraqi army, him and no damage was reported.

It has been suggested that the warehouse was dealt an airstrike. Some witnesses said that the attack was carried out with drones, reports Haaretz. Air attack also was reported by Reuters, Sky News and Al Arabiya. About the drone attacks, said the Iraqi military, although the Minister of defence of Iraq after visiting the scene said that the cause of the explosions is not yet established.

According to Sky News, blew up about 50 missiles delivered from Iran. Some Iraqi officials have suggested that the base attacked by the Israeli air force with F-35 fighters or unmanned aircraft, reports NEWSru.co.il. In this case, according to them, Israel had to agree in detail the operation of the American command, since the goal was near the training base of the U.S. army.

Published in the London pan-Arab newspaper Asharq AL-Awsat, citing Western diplomatic sources writes that in recent weeks, the Israeli army attacked the Iranian warehouses of missile weapons on the territory of Iraq, acting under the agreement with Russia and the United States to Israel’s security in Iraq and Syria. The article mentioned the strikes on targets in Iraq on 19 Jul, 12, and 20 August.

The newspaper notes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently hinted that his country was behind an airstrikes in Iraq, saying: “Iran never has immunity. We will act against them wherever necessary”. Official confirmation of the involvement of the IDF in the incident no. The evening of 20 August, the Prime Minister of Iraq Adil Abdul-Mahdi announced that the decision on transfer of all the armories outside of the city and tightening security measures in the airspace of the country.