Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
At least 15 fighters belonging to the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq were killed in an air strike on the country at dawn on Tuesday, the group said in a statement.
The PMF, an umbrella group of mainly Iran-backed militias, said its commander of operations in Anbar province, Saad Al Baiji, was among those killed. It is the deadliest attack in Iraq since the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The PMF accused the US of being behind the attack. Rescue teams are searching for survivors and recovering bodies from the site of a command centre that was hit, with wreckage scattered across the area. Footage has shown emergency workers in blue jumpsuits and white and yellow helmets using shovels and axes to dig through the debris.
Separately, at least six Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were killed and 22 injured in an overnight rocket attack on their base north of Erbil in Iraq's Kurdistan region, security and Peshmerga sources told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, the report added.
Pro-Iran armed groups in Iraq launched drone and rocket attacks on American interests in the country soon after the US and Israeli began their strikes on Iran on February 28. Armed groups have attacked military bases and diplomatic missions in Iraq, as well as hotels, oilfields, refineries and residential areas.
The US and Israel have attacked bases used by the groups across Iraq, killing dozens of their members.
Kataib Hezbollah, designated a terrorist organisation by Washington, said last Wednesday that it would suspend attacks on the US embassy for five days. On Monday, it announced the pause would be extended for another five days.
