US denies bombing Iraqi Shi’ite militia near Syrian border

BAGHDAD – Reuters

The U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant denied yesterday responsibility for an attack near the Syrian border which killed dozens of members of an Iraqi Shi’ite militia and, that group said, several of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

A spokesman for the Iran-backed Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada militia said 36 of its fighters had been killed in the attack on Aug. 7 and 75 others were wounded and receiving treatment.

“We hold the American army responsible for this act,” the militia said in a statement late on Monday, noting that they were targeted with smart rockets.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Aug. 8 that initial investigation showed that ISIL launched the attack against the militia group.

“It seems that Daesh [ISIL] carried out a breach using artillery and car bombs,” Abadi said in a televised press conference in Baghdad.

The U.S.-led coalition, which is attacking ĞSĞL militants from the air in Syria and Iraq, said the allegations were “inaccurate” and denied conducting air attacks in that area at the time.