ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraq’s commander-in-chief said the country is ready to respond to any attacks on its sovereignty amidst mysterious blasts at Iran-backed militia facilities.

Speaking via a Facebook post on Tuesday following a cabinet meeting, Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi said his government would respond to any aggression from within or outside Iraq.

“We are ready to respond efficiently and accurately to any internal or external attack that targets the sovereignty of Iraq,” Abdul-Mahdi.

There have been several apparent attacks at bases belonging to the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), also known as Hashd al-Shaabi, over the last two months in Iraq. The PMF are a group of largely Shiite militias, many of which are supported by Iran. They were formed by a religiosu decree in 2014 to fight The Islamic State (ISIS). The latest incident occurred when a drone attack left two PMF soldiers dead on August 25 in the western Anbar province.

Abdul-Mahdi said he would also call on Iraq’s neighbors to defend it in the face of aggression.

“Iraq will seek support and assistance from all the regionals and Arab countries to stand side by side Iraq in order to face this aggression and keep on spreading peace,” he said.

The attacks led Abdul-Mahdi to establish a committee to start investigating the causes of the explosions and ban unauthorized flights over Iraq’s airspace.

Some have blamed hot weather and negligent storage for the explosions, but some PMF leaders have accused the US and Israel of responsibility. The US has denied attacking the PMF, while Israel has not.

Israel views the PMF as a threat due to their Iran ties. Iraq is also under pressure from the US to curb the PMF’s influence amidst high US-Iran tensions following incidents in the Persian Gulf and the fallout from the US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. Abdul-Mahdi ordered all PMF units under the command of the army in July.

However, Iraqi leaders are also standing by the PMF in the wake of the possible foreign attacks against them. Abdul-Mahdi, Iraqi President Barham Salih and Iraqi Speaker of the Council of Representatives Mohammed al-Halbousi met head of the PMF commission Falih al-Fayyadh on Monday. The Iraqi Presidency Media Office released a statement the same day praising the PMF for its contributions fighting ISIS.

The prime minister, president and speaker also pledged to protect the PMF from attacks on Monday.

Rudaw