Shadowy militia organisation likely backed by Iran claims fatal Iraq attack on US base

A group calling itself Saraya Awliya Al Dam has reportedly claimed responsibility for Monday night's attack on a US military base near Erbil, in the Kurdish Region of Iraq.

The attack killed a civilian contractor and injured six people, including a US serviceman.

While the claim could not immediately be verified, the past 18 months have seen the emergence of a number of new Shiite militia groups in Iraq.

These have been characterised as front organisations for official Iran-backed groups within a larger Iraqi militia organisation – the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF).

Kurdish intelligence services later found Iranian Fajr-1 rockets still intact at their launch site, within the Kurdish region of Iraq.

The Fajr 1 has a short range of around eight kilometres, confirming the view of security sources that the projectiles used in the Erbil attack had been launched by militia fighters within the semi-autonomous region.

The PMF is linked to the Iraqi government, but a number of hardline elements and the leadership of the organisation often follow Iranian orders.

It has sent units to fight in Syria and has attacked international coalition forces in Iraq.

A previous attack on the base near Erbil originated in the Nineveh plains, outside the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, an area under the control of Iran-backed militias.

In the hours before the Erbil attack, another group calling itself Ashab Ahl Kahf fired rockets at Turkish forces in northern Iraq, who were undertaking an offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party militia.

Ashab Ahl Kahf is thought to be linked to Asaib Ahl Al Haq, a hardline PMF militia with a political wing, Sadiqun, which has 15 seats in Iraq's parliament.

Two men stand near the scene of a rocket attack targeting Erbil's airport, the first time in nearly two months that Western military or diplomatic installations have been targeted in Iraq. AFP

A man inspects the damage near the scene of a rocket attack in Erbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

There were several blasts and a fire blazing for a few minutes near the airport. AFP

Smoke rises over Erbil, Iraq, where mortar shells reportedly struck close to the airport. Reuters

Security forces gather following a rocket attack in Erbil, the capital of the northern Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region. AFP

People look at damage caused by the rocket attack on Erbil airport in Iraqi Kurdistan. Eight rockets targeted the airport, one of which hit an apartment complex near the US consulate. EPA

Broken glass at the Bright Castle Motors building after reports of mortar shells landing near Erbil airport, Iraq. Reuters

Five people were wounded and many shops damaged, security officials said. EPA

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was "outraged" by the attack in Erbil, and pledged that the US would work with Iraqi authorities in investigations to hold those responsible to account.

However, this could be a difficult task. Even if the attacks can be traced to Iran-backed groups, hardline pro-Iranian militias enjoy a degree of protection from their allied political parties in Iraq's parliament.

Calling for an investigation is in stark contrast to what occurred following a similar incident under the administration of former president Donald Trump.

When rockets killed a US civilian contractor on December 27, 2019, the situation escalated into US airstrikes and PMF retaliation.

This culminated in the assassination of Iran's Maj Gen Qassem Suleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, and in response, an Iranian ballistic missile attack on US bases in Iraq.

War was averted when the US decided further escalation could lead to full-scale conflict.

Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'

Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.

Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.

"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.

"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.

"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."

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Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:

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Final: June 1, Madrid

Farage on Muslim Brotherhood

Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.