ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s Security Media Cell on Sunday denied reports that unauthorized forces had recently landed in the country, saying an incident recently referenced in US media reports took place in March and that Iraqi authorities had already responded to it.
The statement came after a Saturday report by The Wall Street Journal alleged that Israel established a clandestine military outpost in Iraq’s western desert to support air operations against Iran.
“No new airborne landings have occurred in the Karbala desert. The incident mentioned in the American media dates back to March 5,” Saad Maan, head of Iraq's Security Media Cell, told Rudaw on Sunday.
“At that time, the necessary measures were taken regarding that unauthorized airborne landing which took place in the al-Nukhaib desert,” he added.
Nukhayb is a desert region in southwestern Iraq, located in Anbar province near the borders of Karbala and Najaf provinces, along key routes linking central Iraq to Saudi Arabia.
According to Maan, Iraqi security and military forces confronted an unidentified force operating without authorization in the area.