BAGHDAD, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Six members of Iraq's paramilitary forces were killed and three others wounded in an unidentified airstrike in northern Iraq early Tuesday.
The attack hit a group of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Dibis district, Kirkuk province, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command's Security Media Cell said in a statement, condemning the strike for targeting the PMF members who were performing their national duty, and calling it a "blatant attack on Iraq."
A local security source told Xinhua that the airstrike hit the PMF's 40th Brigade headquarters, causing damage to the facility in addition to casualties.
Over the past few days, more than 10 PMF members were killed in attacks, for which the group blamed the U.S.-Israeli operation.
Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Counter Terrorism of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region said in a statement that three explosive-laden drones were shot down over the region's capital Erbil at 10:24 p.m. local time (1924 GMT) on Monday, adding that one of the downed drones fell near the United Arab Emirates consulate in the city.
The counter-terrorism service also released a video showing the PMF's 40th Brigade headquarters in Kirkuk engulfed in flames after the cited attack.
The airstrikes came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran starting on Feb. 28, to which Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. assets across the Middle East. ■
