Israel bombs Iranian arms dump in secret war

The base in Iraq was storing medium-range missiles in refrigeration lorries
The base in Iraq was storing medium-range missiles in refrigeration lorries
LOAY HAMEED/AP

Israeli jets attacked an Iranian weapons depot in Iraq in an escalation of covert strikes to counter Tehran’s growing influence in the region, US officials have said.

The raid risks destabilising Iraq during a period of relative peace. The airstrike is the first Israeli attack in Iraq since jets destroyed a nuclear reactor being built by Saddam Hussein in 1981.

Officials in Washington said that two Iranian commanders were killed in the assault. Meanwhile, officials in the region said that the base in Amirli, in the northern province of Salaheddin, was rocked by a huge explosion and fire.

Pictures from the scene showed flames leaping from the site, used by the Badr Corps, a longstanding militia originally formed of Iraqi Shia fighters who sided with