American troops land in western Iraq
According to Iraqi officials and security sources, a US special forces unit landed in the desert areas of Anbar, Najaf and Karbala provinces. This was followed by clashes with Iraqi military forces.
The Joint Operations Command in Iraq confirmed that during the operation in the desert area between the provinces of Karbala and Najaf, a unit of Iraqi forces came under attack.
The command's statement said that a unit of the Karbala Operations Command was conducting a search operation at dawn in the desert between the two provinces when it was hit by an air strike and came under fire. As a result, one soldier was killed and two others were wounded.
The command called the incident unacceptable and reprehensible, and announced the creation of an investigative commission to establish the circumstances of the incident and determine further legal action.
According to officials and security sources, the incident occurred after American forces landed in remote desert areas near the borders of three provinces.
A senior security source in the province of Karbala said that the American special forces landed in the Shannana area, which is located at the intersection of the territories of Nahayb, Najaf and Karbala.
According to the source, clashes broke out after Iraqi troops arrived at the landing site, killing one soldier and wounding two others.
According to an official from the Rutba district in Anbar province, American forces landed at several strategic points at dawn on Wednesday and are currently holding two positions within the area.
He also said that when Iraqi border guard units tried to approach the landing site, they came under fire. As a result, several border guards were wounded and four border guard vehicles were burned.
Former MP Hassan al-Janabi, who heads the public affairs office of the Hikma Movement, said the forces that landed were American.
"Those forces are American and landed in the desert areas between Najaf and Karbala. When the Iraqi unit approached them at a distance of about two kilometres, the American military opened fire, killing one soldier and wounding two others, as well as burning two Iraqi army Humvees," he said.
According to him, it is not yet clear whether the landing was related to a military operation or the collection of intelligence information.
According to sources, the landing site is located in the Shannana area, about 40 kilometres from the Nuhayb subdistrict and the Chlabat area on the border of Rutba district. The area is located about 100 kilometres from the centre of Rutba district, between it and the border with Saudi Arabia.
This area falls within the zone of responsibility of the Imam Ali Division of the Popular Mobilisation Forces, as well as the Abbas Brigade in the Nuhayb desert.
According to the Iraqi security report, the first report of the presence of unknown forces came from a local shepherd who spotted them in the Shannana area, about 40 kilometres from Nuwaybah.
The report states that the forces arrived in several helicopters and were accompanied by Humvee military vehicles.
Former spokesman for the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi armed forces, Abdulkarim Khalaf, told local media that the security forces had received information from shepherds about the presence of foreign military personnel who had landed in the area by air.
According to him, Iraqi units set out to verify the information, but came under fire about 18 kilometres from the landing site.
Khalaf added that the situation is being considered at the highest level by the Joint Operations Command.
The incident occurred against the backdrop of escalating tensions between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran. The authorities of Iraq and the Kurdistan region have previously stated that they do not allow their territory to be used for attacks on neighbouring states.
