Strikes hit two Chinese air defence depots of Islamic Republic proxies in Iraq

Iraqi officials suspect that Israel last week carried out air strikes on two depots in Iraq where Chinese-made shoulder-fired air defence systems were stored; weapons that, according to them, had recently reached Tehran-aligned militias in Iraq from the Islamic Republic. The strikes came shortly after the shipment arrived and destroyed a large part of it.

The newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat published this assessment on Saturday, 24 October 2026, citing Iraqi sources. By the time of publication, neither Israel nor the Iraqi government had officially confirmed the strikes, and no figures on possible casualties had been released.

A chain of explosions at Iraqi militia depots

According to the same sources, the two strikes are part of a chain of explosions at militia weapons depots around Baghdad that began on 1 October. Some of these depots stored suicide and reconnaissance drones. Iraqi officials are now examining an intelligence assessment suggesting that the US and Israeli war with the Islamic Republic may have quietly resumed on Iraqi soil before a new round formally begins.

The report comes as US officials say Donald Trump is inclined to resume military operations against the Islamic Republic, and Iran's neighbours, including Pakistan, have further restricted the movement of goods across land borders.

Buying shoulder-fired air defences from China

Reuters reported in July that the Islamic Republic had signed a deal to buy 300 to 400 Chinese shoulder-fired air defence systems of the QW-12 and FN-16 models, worth 60 to 70 million dollars, and that the first shipment would arrive within weeks. Such weapons are designed to target aircraft and helicopters flying at low altitude.

The transfer of these weapons to Iraqi militias shows that, in the middle of a naval blockade and an economic crisis, the Islamic Republic is still spending part of its military capacity on its proxy network in the region; the same network that, according to earlier reports, was also used to suppress the Dey uprising.

In the middle of a blockade and its people's poverty, the Islamic Republic is handing Chinese air defences to Iraqi militias.