Five injured as Iraq probes blasts on Chinese air defense stockpiles

Iraqi authorities are investigating explosions that damaged two storage sites holding shoulder-fired air defense systems of Chinese origin.

Sources cited by the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat said the weapons were supplied by Tehran to Iran-backed militias. The report claimed that Israel was responsible for the strikes, which occurred last week. The specific model of the air defense system was not identified. The newspaper noted that the storage locations were selected by the armed groups because they were considered difficult to reach or detect. The suspected attacks happened soon after the shipments arrived at both sites.

The report connected these events to an explosion on October 17 at a Popular Mobilization Forces base in Baghdad's East Canal area. The PMF described the blast as an accident, and the Iraqi government promised an investigation. The newspaper stated that the explosion hit a stockpile of obsolete ammunition and injured five people. An anonymous Iraqi official said authorities were still examining the circumstances. No official update was provided more than a week after the incident.

Other sources linked the mid-October blast to an earlier incident on October 1 involving warehouses in and around Baghdad. Those warehouses were connected to Iran-backed groups and reportedly stored drones for suicide attacks and reconnaissance. A security official stated that while the nature of the strikes was not yet determined, authorities had seen enough evidence to attribute them to Israel.

The connection between the Chinese-made weapons and their movement to Iraq remains unconfirmed. China's Foreign Ministry denied reports of supplying weapons to Iran on July 28. The newspaper suggested a link between earlier reports of Chinese arms sales to Iran and the current stockpiles in Iraq, but described that connection as unverified.

Iraqi officials have previously blamed Israel for strikes in 2019 and near the border in Syria. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel established a secret airstrip in Iraq during its campaign against Iran. Unconfirmed accounts also describe Israeli fighter jets flying through Iraqi airspace near the Iranian border with midair refueling support. Most major groups in the PMF, excluding the Badr Organization, are sanctioned by the US as terrorist organizations.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of militias, issued a statement claiming Iraqi airspace was being violated. The US withdrew its forces from Iraq on September 30, a deadline agreed upon with Baghdad, and has advised Americans against traveling to Baghdad.