BAGHDAD, Iraq — A series of lethal air strikes tore through northern Iraq late Saturday, March 28, 2026, targeting security installations and killing at least five personnel. The coordinated raids—blamed by Iraqi officials and paramilitary leaders on "Zionist-American" aggression—have pushed the country closer to the center of the rapidly expanding regional war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran.
The most devastating of Saturday's strikes hit the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) Operations Command for North and East Tigris, located near Kirkuk city’s international airport.
The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) confirmed that three fighters were killed and four others wounded following a devastating triple-strike on their headquarters. In what has been described as a separate and unprecedented escalation, an air strike also targeted an Iraqi federal police checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul.
According to reports from the Interior Ministry, this second attack resulted in the deaths of two police officers and left five others injured, significantly heightening concerns over the broadening scope of the strikes.
This marks a significant shift in the conflict's target profile; while previous strikes have primarily hit militia-aligned bases, the direct targeting of official Iraqi police checkpoints has sparked outrage within the Baghdad government.
The violence comes just weeks after the official outbreak of the "U.S.-Israeli war on Iran" on February 28, 2026. Since then, Iraq has become a primary battlefield for proxy and direct engagements.
The security situation in Iraq has reached a critical tipping point, with today’s attacks bringing the total number of Iraqi security personnel killed since the start of the March conflict to at least 105, alongside over 300 wounded.
In response to the escalating violence, pro-Iran factions operating under the banner of the "Islamic Resistance" have claimed responsibility for a surge in drone and rocket attacks targeting U.S.-linked sites, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and the heavily fortified Green Zone.
This volatile atmosphere was further highlighted late Saturday when two drones targeting the embassy compound were reportedly intercepted and shot down just outside its perimeter.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani has condemned the "brutal targeting" of Iraqi forces and established a joint security team to investigate the breaches of national airspace. The strikes occurred only a day after Washington and Baghdad announced plans to "intensify cooperation" to prevent internal attacks by armed groups—a deal that now appears increasingly fragile.
While the PMF and the Iraqi Interior Ministry have explicitly blamed the United States and Israel for the "treacherous aggression," there has been no official claim of responsibility from Washington or Jerusalem.