While most official security sources confirmed the “accidental accident” that led to the explosion of a pile of equipment at the headquarters of the Popular Mobilization Forces east of the Army Canal in Baghdad, the Badr Organization, which falls under the umbrella of the Mobilization Forces and leads at least 10 factions within its forces, insisted that the incident resulted from American targeting, which may reflect a level of “wing struggle” within the organization, according to some sources.
While Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the circumstances of the incident, the contradiction appeared clear in the official statements issued after the severe explosion, the sounds of which were heard in some neighborhoods of Baghdad and flames were seen rising from its location.
Following the incident, the Mobilization Forces issued three brief statements in which they did not clearly explain the truth of what happened. After announcing the occurrence of the incident in the first statement, it came back with another statement and said that it was able to “control the fire resulting from the explosion of a pile of damaged equipment inside one of the Mobilization Forces’ headquarters east of the canal in the capital, Baghdad.” She confirmed that “the final outcome of the incident resulted in five members being slightly injured,” but news reports spoke of the killing of a member of the “Mobilization Forces” during the explosion.
She pointed out that “the relevant committees have begun their procedures to investigate the circumstances of the accident and determine its causes, with the results being announced as soon as the investigations are completed.” Then the Mobilization Authority returned and issued a third statement in which it said, “Preliminary investigations of forensic evidence affiliated with the Ministry of Interior indicate that the explosion that occurred in one of the headquarters of the Mobilization Authority was the result of an internal defect and there is no indication of external targeting.”
On the other hand, the representative of the “Badr” parliamentary bloc, Karim Aliwi Al-Mohammadawi, called on the government to reconsider the security agreements and joint coordination with the United States, against the backdrop of the explosion of the “Al-Hashd” headquarters. Al-Mohammadawi said, in a statement, that “the repeated targeting of the Popular Mobilization Forces by the Americans is a crime that cannot be tolerated,” stressing the need to activate diplomatic and legal frameworks to stop what he described as unjustified attacks.
He added, "The repeated targeting indicates that the United States does not respect the sovereignty of countries, but rather acts on the basis that it is the first and last decision-maker in the Middle East." Al-Mohammadawi stressed “the need for the government to move all its diplomatic and legal channels to stop the repeated violations.” Because it represents a violation of the Iraqi-American agreement, in light of which the international forces left Iraq.” This is the first accusation from a member of parliament directed at Washington after the final withdrawal of its forces and the international coalition forces it led in Iraq, at the end of last September.
While neither the Mobilization Forces nor the American sources responded to Al-Muhammadawi’s accusations, sources close to the Mobilization Forces believe that Representative Al-Muhammadawi is “looking for some kind of excitement.” The sources added to Asharq Al-Awsat that “the matter may be related to a struggle between wings within the PMF, especially in light of the partisan and factional ambitions to assume its presidency and refer its current president to retirement.” The sources believe that “the explosion incident may have resulted from a failure to preserve explosive materials, and this is unfortunately common, and similar explosions have previously occurred in more than one place as a result of poor storage and the lack of safety conditions in many locations.”
The risks facing the movement of residents between border villages in southern Lebanon are increasing, with the continued Israeli shooting at the entrances to towns and the roads surrounding them, which raises fears of effectively isolating villages without closing their entrances or concentrating inside them. The repercussions of this reality go beyond daily traffic, extending to people’s access to their agricultural lands and medical centers, in light of the continued Israeli military movements and aerial surveillance of the area. This is a file that Lebanese President Joseph Aoun discussed with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a phone call on Thursday evening.
Retired Brigadier General Dr. Hisham Jaber told Asharq Al-Awsat, “Israel has learned from its previous military experiences. Therefore, this time, it does not want to occupy the southern villages outside the “yellow line” and position itself inside them. Rather, it seeks to occupy strategic locations that overlook the villages located outside this line, allowing it to control the surrounding areas from long distances, and avoid the dangers to which its forces may be exposed if they enter the villages. He explains that “the current Israeli tactic is based on controlling by fire the main and secondary roads that connect villages to each other, starting from the military sites where the Israeli forces are stationed, in addition to continuous aerial surveillance by drones.”
Today (Sunday), Palestinians mourned the remains of 75 bodies recovered from under the rubble of buildings in the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City. The Palestinian News and Information Agency (Wafa) reported that “this morning, large crowds mourned the bodies of 75 martyrs who were recovered from under the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City.” The agency quoted medical sources as saying: “About eight thousand bodies remain under the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip, in light of the lack of the necessary equipment to recover them.”
