Iraqi Resistance units are in direct contact with U.S. forces tonight. An American Apache carried out a strike on the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades in Mosul, with smoke rising from the headquarters and confirmed casualties. A second attack hit PMF units in al-Taji north of Baghdad.… pic.twitter.com/0KEUMv1bqT
— Thomas Keith (@iwasnevrhere_) March 6, 2026
Text:
Iraqi Resistance units are in direct contact with U.S. forces tonight. An American Apache carried out a strike on the Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades in Mosul, with smoke rising from the headquarters and confirmed casualties. A second attack hit PMF units in al-Taji north of Baghdad.
The Brigades returned fire immediately, engaging the Apache with anti-air and small-arms fire as clashes spread along the axis from Erbil toward the capital. Minutes later, Victoria Base in Baghdad was hit with 5 rockets and 2 drones, triggering the C-RAM(Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar). The footage you’re about to see is part of this running battle.
Iraq files complaint with US-led coalition over ‘airborne’ op, deadly clash with security forces
[Rudaw] Iraq on Thursday lodged a "protest memorandum" with the US-led international coalition over what security officials described as an "airborne operation" a day earlier that resulted in a deadly confrontation with Iraqi forces in the country’s southern desert, slamming the incident as "treacherous" and stressing that Baghdad will not allow any force to "tamper with the country’s security."
The state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) cited Lieutenant General Qais al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of Iraq’s Joint Operations Command (JOC), as saying authorities had "received reports about the presence of individuals or movements in the desert of Najaf province [in southern Iraq], near the border with Karbala province."
Muhammadawi added that a force "comprising three regiments from the Karbala Operations Command was tasked with investigating the matter," noting that "the force came [at dawn Wednesday] under heavy gunfire from the air, resulting in the death of one soldier and the injury of two others."
"The force was then reinforced with two regiments from the Counter-Terrorism Service [CTS] to search the area," Muhammadawi added. "They inspected the location but found nothing."
The top commander added that "there was no agreement or approval for any force to be present in this location," claiming the foreign forces - believed to be affiliated with the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS) - were allegedly "supporting another force that was attempting to conduct reconnaissance or install equipment" in the area.
Hinting that the operation may have been aiming to collect intelligence about the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) - an umbrella organization of Iraqi gangs that includes factions aligned with the Iran-led ’Axis of Resistance®’ - Muhammadawi said the PMF "are part of the country’s security system" and report to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the Iraqi prime minister.
In recent days, shadowy gangs with suspected links to PMF factions have grabbed credit for a series of attacks targeting alleged US interests in the region, including in the Kurdistan Region. The militias say the attacks are part of their response to the ongoing US-Israeli campaign against Iran, which began on Saturday and killed Iran’s longtime supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
...the very aged actual dictator of Iran, successor to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini...>
, in an
...
KABOOM!...
on Tehran.
Nonetheless, the JOC commander said Thursday, "We have issued orders for security forces to be deployed across all areas, including desert regions," adding that "a protest memorandum has been submitted to the [US-led] Global Coalition requesting clarification."
Muhammadawi added, "We will not allow any force on the ground that does not serve Iraq’s interests or that tampers with its security," condemning the incident as "treacherous and cowardly" and noting that "the force arrived without coordination or approval."
OPERATIONAL DETAILS
Separately, top Iraqi security officials and well-placed sources told Rudaw on Thursday that the incident followed the landing of US forces in remote desert areas near the borders of Iraq’s western Anbar province and southern Najaf and Karbala provinces.
A high-level security source in Karbala said the US special forces had landed in the Shannana area of the al-Nukhaib desert, which serves as the primary gateway connecting the three provinces.
Shannana, is about 40 kilometers from the Nukhaib subdistrict at the border of the al-Rutba district, situated in the far western and southwestern portion of Anbar and occupying a vast desert plateau that borders Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...The reported landing area is believed to fall within the operational responsibility of the Imam Ali Combat Division, officially designated as the PMF’s 2nd Brigade.
A local official from Rutba district told Rudaw on Thursday that "US forces had landed in several strategic locations early Wednesday and are now stationed in two separate positions within the district." He added that "Iraqi security forces who attempted to approach the landing site were met with gunfire, leaving several maimed and resulting in the burning of four of their vehicles."
Of note, Rudaw was unable to independently confirm the latter claims.
Meanwhile,
...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves...
former Iraqi politician Hassan al-Janabi, who heads the state affairs office in the Hikmah Movement led by influential Shiite holy man Ammar al-Hakim, told Rudaw that "the deployed troops are American," noting that "it remains unclear whether the landing was intended for a military operation or intelligence gathering," but stressed that "officials were certain the forces were American and not Israeli."
Related:
Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades: 2024-02-08 Suspected U.S. airstrike killed senior Kataib al-Hezbollah leader Abu Baqir al-Saadi
Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades: 2021-02-28 Iraqi group says US attack in Syria 'will not go without punishment'
Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades: 2024-02-08 Suspected U.S. airstrike killed senior Kataib al-Hezbollah leader Abu Baqir al-Saadi
Sayyid al-Shuhada Brigades: 2021-02-28 Iraqi group says US attack in Syria 'will not go without punishment'