Iraqi farmer killed by Israeli forces after stumbling on secret base: NYT investigation 

The New York Times has reported that an Iraqi farmer was likely killed by Israeli forces after stumbling on a secret Israeli military base in the Muslim country.

Media reports on Sunday cited a NYT investigation revealing the Israelis had set up a covert outpost in Iraq’s western desert during the US-Israeli war on Iran. The site was reportedly used by Israel to support air strikes and housed special forces units.

Awad al-Shammari, who was on his way on March 6, 2026, to buy grocery supplies, stumbled upon the Israeli military units and informed the local security forces that he had sighted suspicious activity in the Najaf-Karbala desert.

Hours before the Iraqi troops would arrive, al-Shammari and two soldiers engaged the Israeli forces, resulting in his vehicle being targeted in a helicopter airstrike, killing him and wounding two soldiers.

The Israeli forces deployed in the desert had apparently monitored al-Shammari's communications through their surveillance systems, tracked his phone, and targeted him.

Al-Shammari's family searched for two days before learning of his fate, the NYT reported.

“We were told that a burned-up pickup truck, the same as Awad’s, was out there, but no one dared to go there,” his cousin Amir said. “When we got there, we found the car and body burned.”

According to the NYT investigation, Israeli forces set up the installations shortly before the war began late in February and were later used during an attack in March on Iraqi troops who had nearly uncovered the site.

Zionist outlets reported that the Israeli forces deployed rescue teams and commando units to the forward position, tasked with extracting downed air crews from inside Iran if necessary.

Sources interviewed by the NYT said there was a second Israeli base in the same desert, which predated the latest war on Iran and was used during the war against Iran in June 2025.

The reports of Israelis' illegal military activities in Iraq have triggered outrage across the country amid growing calls for the government to provide answers and hold those responsible accountable.

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The NYT sources said the base discovered by al-Shammari had been known to Washington since at least June 2025, suggesting the US had withheld the information from the Iraqi government despite being a close ally.

Raed al-Maliki, an Iraqi lawmaker, slammed Washington for giving the zionist forces access to Iraqi airspace.

"The United States handed Iraqi airspace to the [Israeli] entity during the war and ordered radar systems to be shut down," al-Maliki said, adding, "Now it has become clear that Iraqi territory was also used to establish a secret intelligence center or base for the Zionist entity.”

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