A military base in Habaniya Anbar was attacked by jets setting off a new controversy. The planes hit a Hashd al-Shaabi intelligence department within the facility. Most news reports said that 7 soldiers were killed and 13 others wounded but Shafaq News said that 15 Hashd were killed and 14 wounded. The Iraqi government condemned the incident saying it was a direct attack upon its forces. This was not the first time a mixed Iraqi forces and Hashd target was hit but the high casualties made it unacceptable to Baghdad. The Sudani government is trying to walk a fine line between criticizing the Resistance which is part of the government and security forces for attacking international troops and businesses while also being upset when the pro-Iran factions suffer casualties.
Speaking of which two joint army-Hashd checkpoints were hit in the Qaim district of Western Anbar. Kataib al-Tayar al-Risali’s 31st Hashd Brigade suffered an airstrike again in Salahaddin’s Siniya.
The Resistance claimed 23 operations in Iraq and the Middle East on March 25. There was only three reported incidents however. A drone hit a residential area of Irbil city leaving several civilians injured and two others crashed near oil fields one in Basra and another in Maysan. Iran and its allies have threatened Iraq’s petroleum industry to put pressure upon President Trump to end the war.
Kurdish President Nechirvan Barzani told the media that the Iranian missile strike upon two Peshmerga bases in Irbil that killed seven yesterday was a mistake. This was probably Tehran just trying to do damage control after inflicting so many casualties upon the Kurds.
The Iraqi forces also arrested four people responsible for a rocket attack upon a Syrian base. This was only the second time a Resistance attack upon a foreign country was reported. The real question is whether anything will happen to the suspects. The Resistance are powerful forces within the government and have gotten their followers released in the past including during the current war.
The biggest impact of the conflict remains on the country’s oil industry. It has cut production by 3.6 million barrels a day. One million barrels is being sent to refineries while 250,000 barrels are being exported to Turkey. Iraq Oil Report noted that both federal and Kurdish oil fields are contributing to the foreign sales. Another report claimed that Kurdish fields were shut down.
There was talk of trucking petroleum to Jordan but that has gone nowhere as the Oil Ministry has not been able to sign any contracts with tanker companies. Even if this were successful only around 150,000 barrels a day could be shipped.
In February Iraq exported an average of 3.567 million barrels a day earning $6.69 billion. Only a fraction of that is being made now which poses an existential threat to Iraq which is the most oil dependent country in the world.
SOURCES
Asharq Al-Awsat, “Iraq Arrests Four After Rocket Attack on Syria Base,” 3/25/26
Bas News, “Iraq Says Strike on Military Medical Facility Kills Seven Soldiers,” 3/25/26
Iraq Oil Report, “Iraqi wartime production cuts reach 3.6 million bpd,” 3/24/26
Kurdistan 24, “Drone Strike Hits Civilian Area in Erbil, Injuring Several and Causing Material Damage,” 3/25/26
- “President Nechirvan Barzani Says Iran Acknowledges Peshmerga Strike as “Mistake,”” 3/25/26
Middle East Monitor, “Iraqi factions announce carrying out 23 military operations targeting US bases,” 3/25/26
Shafaq News, “A drone crashed near the Artawi oil field in Basra,” 3/25/26
- “Intense airstrikes target a Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters inside the Habbaniyah base in Anbar,” 3/25/26
- “Two airstrikes target two security checkpoints in Al-Qaim, western Anbar (Update),” 3/25/26
- “An “unidentified” drone crashed near an oil field in southern Iraq,” 3/25/26
- “Warplanes target a Popular Mobilization Forces site north of Salah al-Din (Update),” 3/25/26
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