By Amir al-Hassani

BAGHDAD

First Deputy Parliament Speaker Hamam Hamoudi has blamed Israel for an airstrike that killed more than 20 Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi fighters in eastern Syria earlier this week.

“Israel’s targeting of the Hashd al-Shaabi provides incontrovertible evidence that the Israeli entity and the Daesh terrorist group share the same goals,” Hamoudi said Wednesday.

“The [Hashd al-Shaabi] forces that were deployed in the region [near the Syria-Iraq border] had been sent there specifically to fight [Daesh] terrorism,” he added.

Hamoudi went on to urge the UN Security Council to take immediate action against the perpetrators of Sunday’s airstrike.

Late Sunday night, at least 22 Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi fighters were killed in eastern Syria in an airstrike that was initially blamed on the U.S.

Shortly afterward, however, Iraq’s Defense Ministry said the U.S. had not been responsible for the deadly attack. 

Incorporated into the Iraqi Armed Forces last year, the Hashd al-Shaabi is composed mainly of Shia fighters.

First established in 2014 with the express purpose of fighting Daesh, the group is believed to include 150,000 fighters.