QUESTIONS concerning who or what group was responsible for the explosion at a military base in Iraq remain unanswered.
The explosion happened this past weekend at the Kalsu military base in northern Iraq’s Babylon Governorate.
The area was a former U.S. base that was handed over to the Iraqi military in 2011 and now belongs to Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of Iran-allied militias.
Militia officials initially declared the explosion as an airstrike and blamed the United States for the attack.
However, the U.S. military and Israeli officials denied their involvement.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi air defense command had not detected any drones or fighter planes in the airspace of Babylon before or during the explosion, according to Iraq’s Security Media Cell.
The explosion took place a week after Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani arrived in Washington. Al-Sudani arrived in the U.S. on the same day Iran bombarded Israel with more than 300 missiles and drones.
The Iraqi leader held talks with U.S. President Joe Biden on a range of issues such as the U.S. helping Iraq develop its oil resources., bilateral security cooperation, American forces in Iraq, and sanctions.
Iraq has the world’s fifth largest petroleum reserves, and the commodity provides about 95% of foreign exchange earnings.
The week-long visit was Al-Sudani’s first trip to Washington.
The Iraqi Prime Minister has been trying to maintain a fine balance between his relations with neighboring Iran and with its partner United States since he got elected in 2022 his visit to Washington.
