Iraq ordered military camps and munitions warehouses to be moved outside Iraqi cities following a massive explosion at an ammunition depot that killed one civilian and wounded 13 earlier this week.
In a statement issued Thursday following a national security meeting, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi also ordered the cancellation of all aviation approvals for flights throughout the country, including reconnaissance, drones, jets and helicopters - unless authorized by the commander of the armed forces.
Monday night's explosion at a military base southwest of Baghdad shook the Iraqi capital and sent explosives and mortar shooting up the sky, damaging nearby homes and killing one person.
The federal police base houses a weapons depot belonging to a militia group under the umbrella of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Conflicting reports have emerged over the possibility that the depot may have been targeted by Israeli or American jets, while others speculated that the blasts may have been due to an accident at the site.
Vice President Bahaa al-Aaraji said that the nature of the fire and blast at the camp reveals that it housed “weapons that are not used by Iraqi forces or even the PMF.”
“We can conclude that the weapons were being stored for safe keeping by a neighboring country and were targeted by an unjust colonial state based on a treasonous Iraq tip off,” he tweeted in clear reference to Iran storing arms in Iraq.
Tehran has for years adopted a policy of refraining from disclosing Israeli and American strikes against it in Syria and now in Iraq.
