Devastating blast in pro-Iranian militia base sends projectiles into the surrounding areas; Second base in Iraq to be targeted since the beginning of July being held by Iranian-backed Shia militias; Netanyahu in September of 2018: We will act against you whenever and wherever we must act to defend our state and defend our people.
On Monday evening, explosions at a weapons depot in Baghdad left 29 injured and one dead around 7:00 PM local time. Reports indicate that the base targeted in this attack was being used as a weapons storehouse by the Sayyid of Martyrs Battalions, an Iraqi Shiite militia supported by Iran.
While the specifics of the airstrike are unknown at this time, the location that was targeted contained multiple projectiles that were ignited due to the fire from the blast, sending them in various directions resulting in multiple injuries. “An explosion occurred because of the piling up of munitions inside the Saqr military base in southern Baghdad…”, claimed Iraq’s joint military-police Baghdad Operations Command.
With this being the second Iranian-backed storehouse to be targeted since the beginning of July, one calls to remembrance the words of Prime Minister Netanyahu in his statement to the UN General Assembly last September;
“Israel will do whatever it must do to defend itself against Iran’s aggression. We will continue to act against you in Syria. We will act against you in Lebanon. We will act against you in Iraq. We will act against you whenever and wherever we must act to defend our state and defend our people.”
As is the norm, the IDF has not commented on the attack. That being said, there is a pattern of preemptive strikes on Iranian weaponry in recent times and various countries.