US/Israel strike Jurf al-Sakher PMF base in Iraq — 2 Kataib Hezbollah fighters killed, 5 wounded

Al Jazeera confirmed: The US and Israel targeted the Jurf al-Sakher base (also known as Jurf al-Nasr) in southern Iraq. The base houses: • Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF / Hashd al-Shaabi) — a coalition of mostly Shia fighters, formally part of Iraqi security forces but with strong ties to Iran. • Kataib Hezbollah — an Iran-backed Iraqi paramilitary group designated as a terrorist organization by the US. Casualties: • Iraqi state media: 2 fighters killed, 5 wounded. • Kataib Hezbollah internal sources confirmed the same figures. Northern Iraq: • Several powerful explosions reported near the US consulate and Erbil International Airport in the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region. • Air defenses intercepted drone attacks on Saturday per initial reports. • The US is reported to still have troops in the Kurdish region. Significance: • This is the first confirmed US/Israeli strike on Iraqi territory in this conflict. • Jurf al-Sakher has been under PMF control since 2014 when it was seized from ISIS. • Striking PMF targets inside Iraq risks drawing the Iraqi government into the conflict and could trigger a replay of the 2020 crisis (when the US killed IRGC General Soleimani in Baghdad). • The Iraqi government has called for restraint but has not condemned the strikes — a notable silence given Iraq's historical sensitivity to foreign military operations on its soil.