PMF Says 20 Killed, 32 Wounded in US-Saudi Iraq Strikes

Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) said Wednesday that at least 20 of its members were killed and 32 wounded in overnight US-Saudi airstrikes targeting the Iran-aligned group’s headquarters in several Iraqi provinces, according to Middle East Monitor. President Donald Trump told Fox News the operation was “coordinated” with the Iraqi government, per Middle East Eye.

What we know

The PMF said the initial death toll from strikes carried out across multiple Iraqi provinces stands at 20 fighters killed and 32 wounded, Middle East Eye reported, citing the group’s own statement. Tehran Times, citing the PMF (Hashd al-Shaabi), carried the same casualty figure.

Trump, in a Fox News interview, said the strikes were coordinated with Baghdad, a claim that, if confirmed by the Iraqi government, would mark the first publicly acknowledged Iraqi consent to a foreign military operation against Iran-backed factions embedded in its own security apparatus. The Times of Israel reported that the strikes hit Shiite armed groups embedded in the Iraqi military and coincided with a renewed IRGC push against US forces in the region.

What we don’t know

The Iraqi central government has not, as of this filing, publicly confirmed or denied Trump’s coordination claim. The specific PMF brigades struck, the munitions used, and the identities of the dead have not been released. CENTCOM has not issued a public breakdown of targets or a separate casualty assessment. This story is developing.

Context

The Saudi and US governments earlier disclosed the joint strikes in the abstract; the Riyadh statement acknowledging coordinated strikes with the US on Iran-backed groups in Iraq marked the first publicly disclosed Saudi participation in kinetic action against Iranian-aligned militias in Iraq this cycle. The PMF casualty count is the first hard target-side confirmation of the strikes’ scale.

The strikes land as Iran and the United States trade direct fire across the region. Iran fired ballistic missiles at a US base in Jordan overnight in what CENTCOM called a “surprise attack”, and a US missile struck an uninhabited area near Piranshahr in northwestern Iran hours later. The PMF has been a central Iranian proxy vector in Iraq — Iran-backed factions killed a US service member in an Iranian-munition strike earlier this month and a US base in northern Iraq was hit by a drone attack last week.

What to watch

1. Whether the Iraqi government publicly confirms or denies Trump’s claim of Baghdad coordination, and whether the prime minister’s Washington oil-and-gas track survives the political fallout.
2. Whether the PMF, or Iran directly, retaliates against US or Saudi assets in the region beyond the ongoing IRGC missile activity.
3. Whether CENTCOM releases target identifications or a casualty assessment of its own.