Plenty happened in Iraq over the past three days due to the Iran War. That included multiple attacks upon Jordanian airbases by the pro-Iran Resistance to the U.S. or Israel hitting members of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) again.
On March 26 Liwa al-Tafuf’s 13th Hashd Brigade was hit by an airstrike in the Qaim district in western Anbar. The group is closely associated with Kataib Hezbollah.
There was only one incident reported on March 27. A drone crashed near the logistics center at Baghdad airport which is used by the United States. That was a rare lull in violence.
That same day during a meeting of the Iraq-American coordination committee in Baghdad U.S. diplomats warned the government that it must control the Resistance or there would be retaliation. The U.S. and Israel are already striking Iraq almost every day so it’s not clear whether this will have any effect.
March 28 marked some of the major events for the war so far in Iraq. The biggest was that the Resistance claimed drone and missile strikes upon four Jordanian military bases and its international airport. Those included the Muwafaq Saiti Air Base, the King Abdullah II Air Base, the King Faisal Air Base, the Prince Hassan Air Base and the Queen Alia International Airport. It said that Jordan was facilitating the war and this was its punishment. Some of the drones and missiles were intercepted but others got through. This is only the third time attacks by the pro-Iran factions have been reported but they have obviously been doing a lot more that is not getting mentioned. That’s the reason why Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Jordan issued a joint communique calling on Baghdad to rein in the Resistance on March 26.
That same day a drone targeted the home of the Kurdistan Regional Government President Nechirvan Barzani. It was shot down by air defenses. The Kurds are considered the closest to the United States in the country and have constantly been attacked as a result. This was a decided escalation going after one of their political leaders.
The nation’s oil industry continues to be under threat. A drone crashed inside the Majnoon oil field in Basra and another one hit the Baiji refinery in Salahaddin.
Two drones were shot down near Baghdad Airport and another was intercepted over Irbil Airport.
In the middle of all this Kataib Hezbollah extended its moratorium on attacking the U.S. Embassy in the capital for another five days. This is the third time this has happened. With all the other operations the Resistance is carrying out which has forced foreign diplomats and workers to flee the country and the country cut back its oil production this seems like a fig leaf to the Sudani government to claim that it is showing self-restraint and responding to the authorities.
The U.S. and Israel hit a number of targets. In Khamas, Wasit Asaib Ahl Al-Haq was hit by two airstrikes. The Hashd’s Northern and East Tigris Operations Command was struck inside the Kirkuk Airport with three missiles which killed three Hashd and wounded six others.
In a more troubling development a checkpoint run by the 1st Emergency Police Regiment was targeted twice killing the commander of the unit, another officer and wounded five more. This was next to a Hashd HQ which was the likely target. The United States denies that it has attacked any elements of the Iraqi Security Forces during the war but this is the second time this has happened leading to casualties.
The first time was one March 25 when a Hashd intelligence office inside a military air base in Habaniya, Anbar was bombed. Twenty soldiers were killed and wounded as a result although one report said the casualties were all Hashd. This only makes things more difficult for the Iraqi government which is trying to play both sides during the conflict. On the one hand it says the Resistance must stop all its attacks upon foreigners and foreign countries while on the other it condemns the U.S. and Israel for killing and wounding Iraqis. These strikes on the ISF will only provide more reason for the Resistance to continue its operations while making the government seem incapable of protecting its own people.
SOURCES
Kurdistan 24, “Drone Crashes at Majnoon Oil Field in Basra Without Damage, Ministry Says,” 3/28/26
- “US Warns Iraq to Curb Armed Group Attacks or Face Escalation,” 3/28/26
NINA, “Interior Ministry: Commander of the First Emergency Police Regiment martyred in a cowardly attack in Mosul,” 3/28/26
Reuters, "Baghdad orders probe after drone targets Kurdistan president's home,” 3/28/26
Al-Samarraie, Jawad, “Islamic Resistance in Iraq escalates: Coordinated strikes on multiple Jordanian airbases,” Iraqi News, 3/28/26
Shafaq News, “Air defenses engage two drones near Baghdad International Airport,” 3/28/26
- “Airstrike targets Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq headquarters in Wasit (Update),” 3/28/26
- “A drone attempting to target Balad Air Base in Salah al-Din was shot down,” 3/28/26
- “A drone crashed near Baghdad International Airport,” 3/27/26
- “A drone strike targeted the vicinity of the Baiji refinery,” 3/28/26
- “For the third time, Kataib Hezbollah extends the deadline for not targeting the US embassy,” 3/28/26
- “Police casualties in airstrike on joint military headquarters in Mosul (Update),” 3/28/26
- “Three members of the Popular Mobilization Forces were killed in a bombing in Kirkuk,” 3/28/26
Al Sumaria, “Airstrike targets Popular Mobilization Forces headquarters in Al-Qaim,” 3/26/26
- “Drone shot down near Erbil airport,” 3/28/26
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