BAGHDAD: A blast ripped through “logistics” Depot belonging to former pro-Iran paramilitaries south of Baghdad on Thursday, authorities said. “At 7:00 p.m. a blast took place in logistics warehouses belonging to the 42 Brigade… in the Yusufiyah region, south of Baghdad,” said the Hashed Al-Shaabi — an alliance of pro-Iranian former paramilitary groups now integrated into the regular military.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately known, and the Hashed stated it set up a committee to probe. It further said that the firefighters rushed to the area to battle the blaze.
A security source also confirmed the explosion, saying that it “occurred in a warehouse storing equipment that belongs to Hashed Al-Shaabi.” A Hashed official stated that he did not rule out the possibility of an “air strike.”
In April, one man was killed and around eight wounded in a blast at an army base housing Hashed groups in Babylon province, south of Baghdad. A prob found the explosion was caused by munitions stored on-site, not by an air strike.
