BAGHDAD, March 4, (V7N) – A military base in southern Iraq used by the Iran-backed Kataeb Hezbollah group was hit by an airstrike on Tuesday, two sources from the faction said, as regional hostilities following the US-Israeli strikes on Iran continue to spill over into Iraq.

The Jurf al-Nasr base, one of the group’s main strongholds, has been targeted multiple times since the outbreak of the war, which began with US-Israeli attacks on Iran earlier this week. Since Saturday, more than 10 fighters affiliated with Kataeb Hezbollah have reportedly been killed across Iraq. One source indicated that Tuesday’s strike caused only material damage.

Iraq, which has struggled to maintain stability amid decades of proxy conflicts between the US and Iran, has declared it does not want to be drawn into the war. However, Iran-backed armed groups in the country, including Kataeb Hezbollah and others within the broader Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have warned they will not remain “neutral” and have claimed responsibility for dozens of drone attacks on US military bases.

On Tuesday evening, Iraqi authorities reported shooting down a drone near Baghdad International Airport, a site that houses US military advisers and previously hosted US-led coalition troops. Earlier in the day, security forces said they seized nine rockets and a launchpad set up to target the airport.

Drone strikes have also targeted Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, which hosts US forces. AFP correspondents reported a strike near Sulaimaniyah, the region’s second-largest city, hitting an area close to a building that formerly served as a UN office, with no casualties. Loud explosions were also reported in Erbil, the regional capital.

Earlier, Iranian drone attacks hit a camp in Iraqi Kurdistan that hosts Iranian Kurdish fighters and family members, damaging rooms used by hospital staff, according to local officials and exiled opposition groups. Kurdish authorities said the camp, like others in the region, has faced repeated cross-border strikes from Iran, which accuses these groups of collaborating with Western or Israeli interests.

As the Middle East war escalates, Iraq remains caught in the crossfire, with both Iran-backed militias and US-aligned forces continuing to clash in a rapidly deteriorating security environment.

END/WD/RH