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According To Iran News, Hashd al-Sha’abi forces foiled ISIS attack on the strategic region of “Naft Khaneh” in the eastern province of Diyala near Iran’s border.

Iraqi Hashd al-Sha’abi forces thwarted an attempt by a number of ISIS elements to infiltrate the Naft Khaneh region in the northern province of Diyala on Monday.

The Iraqi force said in a statement that a unit of Hashd al-Sha’abi 1st Brigade thwarted the movements of ISIS elements who were trying to infiltrate the Naft Khaneh region.

The statement also noted that ISIS terrorists were trying to target the main routes of the region, especially as security forces cleared the area.

Naft khaneh is an Iraqi oil field that is located next to Iran’s Naft Shahr field and has a joint reservoir.

Hashd al-Sha’abi forces have foiled many ISIS attacks on this vital region so far.

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The attack on PMU forces in the province just north of the capital Baghdad was one of the largest ISIS attacks since the terrorist group was defeated in December 2017.

The final casualty count on both sides remains unknown, but there were unconfirmed reports showing a higher number of fatalities.

Iraq forces and PMU are now taking control of the situation, pushing back the Takfiri militants.

The government has also sent reinforcement to supplement efforts and prepare for possible retaliatory attacks.

Daesh has intensified its attacks in Iraq amid Baghdad’s call on the US to pull out its forces from the Arab country.

In a vote on January 5, the Iraqi parliament called for an end to the presence of all foreign troops, including Americans.

The vote came two days after the US military – acting on US President Donald Trump’s order – launched a fatal drone strike on senior Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani upon his arrival in the Iraqi capital at the invitation of the Baghdad government.

The attack also claimed the lives of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the second-in-command of the PMU, and eight other Iranian and Iraqi people.

Washington has threatened sanctions should US troops be expelled instead of heeding the Iraqi parliament’s call to end the occupation of the country.

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“Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali al-Hakim held an emergency meeting in which the ministry’s undersecretaries, advisors, and official spokesman discussed the measures regarding the recent American aggression,” the ministry’s spokesman Ahmed al-Sahaf said in a statement published on the official Twitter page of the ministry on Friday.

He added the foreign minister “ordered the summoning of the United States and British ambassadors to Baghdad (Matthew H. Tueller and Stephen Hickey respectively).”

President Barham Salih also censured the US airstrikes in Iraq, which killed at least one civilian and five security personnel early on Friday, Press TV reported.

“The Presidency of the Republic (of Iraq) condemns the foreign bombardment that targeted several locations inside Iraq, including Karbala airport which is under construction, and led to the martyrdom and wounding of members of the Iraqi security forces and civilians,” Salih said in a statement published on the official Twitter page of the presidency on Friday.

He added, “The Presidency of the Republic considers this bombing a violation of the national sovereignty, and stresses that improvement of security conditions could be achieved through supporting the Iraqi government to carry out its duties, enhance its capabilities, enforce the law, protect the sovereignty and prevent the transformation of its territories into a proxy war zone.”

“The continuous violations, to which Iraq is exposed, are a systematic and dangerous weakening of its capabilities and prestige, in conjunction with a stage in which Iraq faces grave and unprecedented challenges politically, economically, financially and insecurity and health sectors. Such risks, if they continue, would plunge Iraq into a state of power vacuum and chaos,” the Iraqi president noted.

Salih then called on “the international community to support Iraq in its endeavor, and respect its sovereignty as well as its independent national decisions.”

Separately, the Fatah (Conquest) alliance, led by Badr Organization Secretary General Hadi al-Ameri, denounced the US airstrikes, saying, “There is no solution except for the departure of foreign forces from Iraq.”

“At today’s dawn, US aircraft launched a new act of aggression, targeting the headquarters and military centers of the Popular Mobilization Units, the Iraqi army, and emergency forces. The fresh American onslaught targeted a civilian airport under construction in the holy city ​​of Karbala as well,” the alliance said in a statement carried by Iraq’s Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network on Friday.

The statement added, “The attack resulted in severe damage to the civilian and military installations of Iraq. This aggression has clearly indicated repeated US violations against Iraq, its people, and armed forces. The aggression shows that US military and political leadership intentionally strike civilian targets as part of their policy of destruction and sabotage of Iraq, its nation and its emerging political experience.”

Furthermore, senior Iraqi cleric Ammar al-Hakim condemned the US airstrikes and described them as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

“We condemn the violation of foreign fighter jets against the sovereignty of Iraq, and the bombing of the headquarters of Popular Mobilization Units as well as security forces in holy Karbala, Babil, Wasit, Salahuddin, and other civilian facilities,” the leader of the National Wisdom Movement said in a post published on his Twitter page.

He added, “We are at a time when we are in favor of Iraq’s transformation into an open arena and political engagement. We call on the Iraqi government to take its right and appropriate role to preserve the prestige of the country and protect its sovereignty against any violation.”

Additionally, influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called on people from all walks of life to show restraint in the wake of the US airstrikes.

“In the midst of great misfortunes which are affecting the whole world, and the Iraqi people, in particular, Iraq must be spared from more tensions and conflicts. I call for restraint and peace in our beloved Iraq, and avoidance of violence,” he said in a post published on his Twitter page on Friday.

“We are not the proponents of making peace with occupiers. Nevertheless, we take into account the circumstances surrounding the proud Iraqi nation, who ask God to save them from both occupiers and the corrupt.”

Furthermore, the custodianship of the Shrine of Imam Hussein (PBUH) in Karbala plans to file a lawsuit at international courts against the United States over its airstrikes on the airport under construction there.

“The custodianship will refer to competent international courts in order to lodge a lawsuit concerning the missile attack early on Friday against Karbala International Airport, which is among main civilian sites in Iraq,” Afzal al-Shami, a spokesman for the office, said on Friday.

He added, “The losses sustained include the martyrdom of one of the employees, huge material damage, and destruction of ten vehicles belonging to the company operating the airport.”

Later on Friday, Sahaf said Baghdad will complain through two identical letters to the United Nations and the Security Council about US air raids on Iraqi military positions.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry’s Security Media Cell announced in a statement that “at 01:15 local time on Thursday (2215 Wednesday) an American aerial bombardment struck headquarters of Hashd al-Sha’abi, emergency regiments as well as commandos from the 19th Division of the army.”

The statement added that the airstrikes targeted positions in Jurf al-Nasr town, located about 60 kilometers southwest of the capital Baghdad, Musayyib town in the central province of Babil, the holy shrine city of Najaf as well as the ancient central city of Alexandria.

The US military did not estimate how many people in Iraq may have been killed in the strikes, which officials said were carried out by piloted aircraft.

US Defense Secretary Mark Esper, in a Pentagon statement detailing the strikes, cautioned that the United States was prepared to respond again if needed.

“We will take any action necessary to protect our forces in Iraq and the region,” Esper said.

Separately, an Iraqi official said an airstrike had hit an airport under construction in Karbala, located about 100 kilometers (62 miles) southwest of Baghdad.

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Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei has strongly condemned the deadly American air raids that targeted the positions of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), better known as Hashd al-Sha’abi, saying Washington is in fact taking revenge on the popular forces because of the key role they played in defeating the Daesh terror group.

According To Iran News, “You are witnessing what they [the Americans] are doing in Iraq and Syria. They are taking revenge on Hashd al-Sha’abi because it paralyzed and [eventually] eliminated Daesh, which they [the Americans] had created and nurtured,” the Leader said at a meeting on Wednesday.

Ayatollah Khamenei said, “I myself, the government and the nation of Iran condemn the US malevolence in the strongest of terms.”

The Leader made the remarks in reference to the latest U.S. military aggression, which has drawn a wave of damning reactions from officials and movements across the region, and triggered furious public protests outside the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on Tuesday.

As many as 31 fighters from the popular forces lost their lives and dozens more sustained injuries in the U.S. airstrikes that targeted their bases in Anbar Province, in western Iraq, near Syria’s border, late Sunday.

Ayatollah Khamenei further responded to a tweet by Donald Trump, in which the US president threatened that “Iran will be held fully responsible for lives lost, or damage incurred, at any of our facilities. They will pay a very BIG PRICE!”

“For one thing, you are damned wrong because this matter has nothing to do with Iran. And for another, you ought to be reasonable and try to understand what the root causes of these incidents are,” adding, however, that the Americans are far from being sensible.

“The Americans must realize how the regional people, including those in Iraq and Afghanistan, hate them for the crimes they have perpetrated, and that this hatred would eventually seep out somewhere,” Ayatollah Khamenei pointed out.

The Leader went on to say, “If Iran decides to confront a country, it will do so openly. But everyone must know that we are strongly committed to the country’s interests and the Iranian nation’s dignity, grandeur and progress, and we shall not hesitate to intervene and deal a blow to any party who attempts to pose a threat to the country.”

Ayatollah Khamenei described the Iranian nation as being “courageous, vigilant and ready for action on all fronts.”

“Contrary to certain propositions that a war would break out, we shall never drive the country in the direction of war. However, if others attempt to impose anything on our country, we shall stand against them with all our might.”

The Leader provided examples of U.S. misbehavior, which have given rise to widespread anti-American sentiment and anger in the region, including the atrocities committed by infamous private military company Blackwater in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the massacre of thousands of Iraqi civilians and scientists.

Ayatollah Khamenei also pointed to the visits paid by American officials to certain regional states without advance notice or proper authorization from the relevant governments as an example of the US disdainful behavior towards regional nations.

Ayatollah Khamenei also commented on the violent riots that hit several Iranian cities in mid-November on the back of a series of popular protests over a government decision to increase fuel prices.

The Leader said the people had some demands, but that the enemy quickly intervened to take advantage of those demands and commit acts of vandalism.

The people’s vigilance came to light when they broke ranks with the rioters, who were trying to hide behind ordinary protesters.

“The main culprits of the mid-November riots and the attacks on infrastructure such as gasoline storage sites, wheat warehouses and public property were linked to foreign intelligence agencies,” Ayatollah Khamenei said.

On the first day of the riots, the Leader added, the Americans jumped for joy, but they became disappointed shortly afterwards as the riots came to end and they failed to achieve what they wanted.

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In a statement released on Monday, the IRGC denounced the US airstrike on the positions of Hashd al-Shaabi forces as a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and gave the right to Iraq to retaliate US attack.

“The grown people of Iraq and the hero Hashd al-Shaabi would reserve the right, according to international law and charters, to take revenge for and respond to the recent big crime committed by the Americans,” read part of the statement.

The IRGC also stressed that the criminal act by the American forces once again proved that the US is the root cause of insecurity, chaos, and tensions in the region.

Eviction of “American occupier terrorists” from Iraq will guarantee the Arab country’s stability and sustainable security, the statement added.

On Sunday, US forces conducted drone strikes on a number of Kata’ib Hezbollah bases in Iraq’s western Anbar province, killing at least 25 individuals and leaving another 51 injured, according to the PMU.

Following the strikes, the Pentagon issued a statement saying that it had targeted three locations of the Iraqi fighters in Iraq and two in Syria in response to alleged attacks targeting American forces.

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In a statement on Wednesday, Tahsin al-Husseini said he visited common borders between Iraq and Syria north of Euphrates earlier in the day to evaluate the situation of the region and the forces stationed there.

He further emphasized that there is good coordination between the Hashd al-Shaabi forces and other security troops there, and they have full control over the common borders.

Back in December, Iraq celebrated the anniversary of its costly victory over the Daesh (ISIL or ISIS) terrorist group, which has lost virtually all the territory it once held.

Daesh militants made swift advances in much of northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing large swaths of northern Syria.

However, a combination of concentrated attacks by the Iraqi military and the volunteer forces, who rushed to take arms after top Iraqi cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling for fight against the militants, blunted the edge of Daesh offensive and later forced them to withdraw from the territories they had occupied.

In November 2017, the self-proclaimed caliphate of Daesh collapsed after Syrian and Iraqi armed forces and their allies managed to recapture the terror group’s last strongholds in the two Arab countries.

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