ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq\u2019s Security Media Cell on Sunday denied reports that unauthorized forces had recently landed in the country, saying an incident recently referenced in US media reports took place in March and that Iraqi authorities had already responded to it.<\/p>\n
The statement came after a Saturday report by The Wall Street Journal alleged that Israel established a clandestine military outpost in Iraq\u2019s western desert to support air operations against Iran.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo new airborne landings have occurred in the Karbala desert. The incident mentioned in the American media dates back to March 5,\u201d Saad Maan, head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell, told Rudaw on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, the necessary measures were taken regarding that unauthorized airborne landing which took place in the al-Nukhaib desert,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Nukhayb is a desert region in southwestern Iraq, located in Anbar province near the borders of Karbala and Najaf provinces, along key routes linking central Iraq to Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
According to Maan, Iraqi security and military forces confronted an unidentified force operating without authorization in the area. \u201cIraqi security and military forces were present at the site and clashed with an unknown force whose presence was unauthorized,\u201d he said, noting that one Iraqi security member was killed and two others wounded in the incident. Baghdad had confirmed the clash and casualties at the time. <\/p>\n
Maan added that Iraqi authorities have not recorded similar incidents since then. \u201cThrough our follow-ups, it has become clear that during the months of April and May, neither the previous force nor any other unauthorized force has landed, and no similar incidents have occurred. Security forces continue to patrol that area,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
The Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday that \u201cIsrael set up a clandestine military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and launched airstrikes against Iraqi troops who almost discovered it early in the war, people familiar with the matter including U.S. officials said.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the newspaper, the installation \u201choused special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli air force, just before the war started with the knowledge of the U.S.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq\u2019s Security Media Cell on Sunday denied reports that unauthorized forces had recently landed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[1435,1434,94,1433,1432,1431],"class_list":{"0":"post-107145","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iraq","8":"tag-and-turkish","9":"tag-arabic","10":"tag-iraq","11":"tag-kurdish","12":"tag-publishing-in-english","13":"tag-rudaw-is-a-broadcast-and-digital-news-network-based-in-the-kurdistan-region-of-iraq"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116551955615972505","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}