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Iraq Denies Israeli Military Presence
(MENAFN) Iraq on Tuesday firmly rejected claims that unauthorized military bases or foreign forces are operating within its borders, pushing back directly against a report alleging Israel had secretly established a desert outpost to support strikes against Iran.
"We are closely monitoring reports and statements regarding the presence of unauthorized bases and forces on Iraqi territory, specifically in the desert of Karbala east of Nukhayb and Najaf," the Security Media Cell of the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement Monday evening.
The statement referenced a confrontation on March 5, in which Iraqi security forces deployed from the Karbala operations command and from Najaf engaged unidentified armed groups operating with aerial support. The clash left one Iraqi security personnel dead, two others wounded, and a military vehicle destroyed.
"Our security forces were determined to reach this area and its surroundings, and to maintain pressure and a presence there, which forced the unauthorized detachments to leave and withdraw," the statement added.
Baghdad stressed that its forces conduct regular sweeps of all territories — particularly remote desert zones — extending to the country's international borders, and maintained there have been no unauthorized bases or forces on Iraqi territory throughout the period in question.
The denial was echoed a day earlier by a senior Iraqi security official who spoke to Anadolu, dismissing as "false" media reports alleging Israel had set up a clandestine military installation in Iraq's desert to facilitate airstrikes on Iran.
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