Mystery blast kills one at Iran-backed militia base in Iraq weeks after suspected Israeli strike

An attack on a Hashd al-Shaabi base in Baghdad has killed one person.
1 min read
13 August, 2019
Iraq has experienced instability over the years [Getty]

Iraq's interior ministry says a large explosion at an ammunition depot southwest of the capital, Baghdad, has injured 13 people, most lightly.

Maj. General Saad Maan, a ministry spokesman, said it was not immediately clear what caused the blast at the al-Saqr military base.

The explosion was heard throughout the city and smoke billowed in the air Monday evening.

The base houses a weapons depot for the Iraqi federal police and the mainly Shia militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces and al-Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic.

Read More: Did Israeli long-range drones bomb Iran-linked targets in Iraq? 

Video from al-Ain news site showed clouds of smoke billowing from one of the weapons stores belonging to the Hashd al-Shaabi.

This is the second attack to have targeted Iranian-backed Shia militia bases in the space of just under a month.