Click to see full-size image.
Five fighters from the Iran-aligned Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) were wounded on April 23 after shooting down what appears to be an Iranian-made suicide drone over the western Iraqi province of al-Anbar in a very unusual incident.
Ghazi al-Muhammadi, head of the security committee in al-Anbar, told Shafaq News that the PMF detected an unidentified drone that crashed in the Rutba desert in the al-Rahaliya area, and dealt with the situation “quickly and professionally.”
According to the official, when PMF fighters approached the drone, it exploded, slightly wounding at least five of them.
Photos posted to social networks revealed that the drone was a version of an Iranian type codenamed by the United States military and intelligence as KAS-04.
Click to see full-size image.
Factions from the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI) coalition, which is linked to the PMF but not officially recognized by the government like the force, launched multiple attacks against Israel using versions of the KAS-04 after the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip.
The drone downed in al-Anbar was most likely launched by Yemeni Houthis (Ansar Allah). Earlier in the day, the group announced that it had launched a Yafa drone at a “vital target” near the city of Tel Aviv in central Israel.
The Yafa is a version of the KAS-04 with a range of over 2,000 kilometers. But even with this range, the drone will not likely be able to reach Iraq from Yemen, then continue into Israel. Thus it is very possible that the drone was in fact launched from Iraq, not Yemen.
The Houthis launched several joint operations with the IRI last year, but since November the Iraqis have not announced any attack on Israel.
The incident in al-Anbar could have serious ramifications as Israel could view it as proof that attacks were still being launched from Iraq. Last year, Israel was reportedly about to launch strikes against the country before the IRI halted its operations.
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since syria is occupied now, it would be a perfect time to get muslims fighting one another using weapons found by the occupying forces and send them at the different groups in the area.