ERBIL — The United States has denied any involvement in an alleged airstrike that hit Jurf al-Sakhar on Monday night.
“Explosions reported earlier today about 40 miles outside of Baghdad, Iraq, in the town of Jurf al-Sakhar were not the result of US military action,” Capt. Bill Urban, CENTCOM spokesman, said in a tweet.
The US Embassy in Baghdad also issued an online statement to confirm that no US personnel or assets were in the vicinity of the area at the time of the alleged airstrike.
“We are seeing reports of potential explosions near Jurf as-Sakhr, south of Baghdad. We can confirm that no U.S. personnel or assets were in the vicinity of Jurf as-Sakhr and that there was no U.S. involvement in this alleged incident,” a spokesperson for the embassy said.
Local media reported airstrikes on Monday night targeting the positions of Kataib Hezbollah, a Shia militia group linked to Iran. Others said the airstrikes could been conducted by Israel.
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said in a statement on Tuesday that there were no airstrikes in southern Baghdad, but an Islamic State (IS) bomb attack in north of Babil province caused the explosion of a transmission tower.