Baghdad Authorities Suspect Israeli Strike on Chinese Air Defense Sites

Iraqi government officials believe Israel conducted attacks on two storage sites where Iranian-backed militias kept shoulder-fired air defense systems from China. The assessment comes from sources cited by the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat on Saturday. The strikes occurred last week, according to the report.

The newspaper did not identify the specific Chinese model of the air defense units. It also noted that the publication lacked concrete evidence to fully substantiate its claims. One source indicated that the militia group selected a location they considered difficult to detect or reach. The suspected attack happened shortly after the shipments arrived at both sites.

An explosion on October 17 at a Popular Mobilization Forces base in Baghdad's East Canal area is linked to this timeline. The PMF, which includes many Iranian-backed groups alongside the Iraqi government, initially called the blast an accident. The incident hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition and injured five people. An anonymous Iraqi official stated that authorities were still investigating the cause, though no update was provided more than a week after the event.

Mid-October explosions followed an earlier incident on October 1 near Baghdad. Warehouses linked to Iran-aligned groups were affected in that first event. Reports indicated those sites stored drones designed for suicide attacks and reconnaissance missions. A security official told the newspaper that while Iraqi authorities had not confirmed the nature of the strikes, they had gathered enough evidence to suspect Israeli involvement.

This is not the first time Iraq has attributed regional strikes to Israel. Militias previously blamed Israel for attacks in 2019 and a strike in Albukamal, Syria. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel established a secret airstrip in Iraq during its campaign against Iran. Asharq Al-Awsat also mentioned unconfirmed accounts of Israeli jets using Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border with midair refueling support.

Iran has supplied Iraqi militias with weapons for years, including missiles and drones. These groups launched numerous attacks on Israel after the war began on October 7, 2023. Since the US and Israel began airstrikes in February, Iran has used Iraq as a frontline. The country has carried out over 1,000 drone and missile strikes on the Kurdistan Region. Allied militias have mounted 600 attacks across Iraq, some targeting US diplomatic sites. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, meeting a deadline agreed with Baghdad.

The newspaper connected the strikes to earlier reports of China supplying weapons to Iran, a link it described as unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied those reports on July 28. An Iran-backed militia recently attacked Saudi Arabia's East-West Pipeline with a drone from Iraq's Maysan province. That border crossing has since closed under US pressure and Iraqi concerns about trafficking.

A source in the Shi'ite Coordination Framework said ruling party leaders predicted renewed war between Washington and Tehran would start by destroying Iraqi faction capabilities. Most major PMF groups, except the Badr Organization, face US terrorist sanctions. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of militias, issued a statement claiming Iraqi airspace was being violated.