An aerial strike targeted a base of the Popular Mobilization Forces in Anbar province, western Iraq, on Wednesday morning.

The Iraqi Ministry of Defense announced in a statement: “The Al-Habbaniyah military clinic and the Al-Habbaniyah works division, affiliated with the Habbaniyah site command at the Ministry of Defense, were struck by an airstrike, followed by gunfire from the aircraft. This attack resulted in the martyrdom of seven of our heroic fighters and the injury of 13 others while performing their national and humanitarian duties. Rescue teams continue search operations at the incident site.”

It described the targeting as “a blatant and serious violation of all international laws and norms prohibiting attacks on medical facilities and personnel. This represents a significant escalation that demands firm intervention and accountability for those responsible, as targeting medical facilities is an atrocity by any standard, given that they focus on saving lives and providing care to fighters.”

It concluded: “The Ministry of Defense reserves the full right to take all necessary measures to respond to this aggression, within the bounds of accepted legal frameworks.”

The Popular Mobilization Forces is an alliance of factions established in 2014 to combat the ISIS organization, later integrating into the Iraqi military and becoming officially affiliated with the armed forces.

Anbar province is the largest in Iraq by area and has a majority Sunni population. It borders Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, and its vast desert has been the site of operations by the Popular Mobilization Forces against remaining ISIS cells, which have persisted since the group’s defeat in 2017.