Explosion in Iraq
Explosion in IraqReuters

Arab media outlets on Wednesday reported that Iraqi Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi toured southern Baghdad after an ammunition warehouse exploded, ordering authorities to create new protocols for safely storing weapons and ammunition, Israel Hayom reported.

A spokesman for Iraq's Interior Minister said that an examination of the warehouse showed that the explosion was not caused by an internal failure but by a third party which attacked the warehouse and caused a fire, Israel Hayom added.

The media also quoted the Iraqi officials as saying that the warehouse belonged to the Iraqi police and security forces.

However, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister and Baghdad security sources said the warehouse belonged to militias and armed forces operating in Iraq, which are identified with a "neighboring country."

According to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, a senior security official said: "It's clear that we're facing a battle which is taking place on Iraqi soil, between the US and Israel and Iran and its allies. We have every indication that Israel is doing in Iraq what it did in Syria, when it attacked Iranian military targets time and again. The US is also helping Israel attack pro-Iranian targets in Iraq."

The source also told Asharq Al-Awsat that due to the Iranian presence on the recently-targeted bases in Iraq, Baghdad authorities have avoided publishing the results of their investigations, since it would give away the Iranian presence in Iraq, which carries out mostly military activities aimed at American and Israeli targets.

Despite the anger felt in Iraq towards the US and Israel due to the claim that the two countries are behind the attacks, the vast majority of Baghdad's leaders and most of the Iraqi public criticized their government and armed forces for allowing Iranian presence and military activities on Iraqi soil.