An Iraqi drone strike killed nine members of the pro-government Popular Mobilisation paramilitary force near Tikrit in an apparent case of so-called "friendly fire", a spokesman said Sunday.
Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesman for the Hashed al-Shaabi umbrella group that includes mostly Tehran-backed Shiite militias, said the strike occurred on Saturday at 10:00 pm.
"The initial report is that an Iraqi strike erroneously identified our forces as enemy forces and carried out a strike," he told AFP.
Assadi said nine members of the Ketaeb Jund al-Imam (The Battalions of the Imam's Soldiers) militia group were killed and 14 wounded.