BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s prime minister approved sweeping disciplinary and legal measures against senior commanders in a paramilitary force after clashes with police at a government facility that left three people dead last month, his office said Saturday.
Gunmen descended on the agricultural directorate in Baghdad's Karkh district on July 27 and clashed with federal police. The raid came after the former head of the directorate was ousted and a new one appointed.
A government-commissioned investigation found that the former director — who was implicated in corruption cases — had called in members of the Kataib Hezbollah militia to stage the attack, Sabah Al-Numan, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said in a statement Saturday.
Al-Sudani, who also serves as commander in chief of the armed forces, ordered the formation of a committee to investigate the attack.
Kataib Hezbollah is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a coalition of mostly Shiite, Iran-backed militias that formed to fight the Islamic State extremist group as it rampaged across the country more than a decade ago.
The PMF was formally placed under the control of the Iraqi military in 2016, but in practice it still operates with significant autonomy. Some groups within the coalition have periodically launched drone attacks on bases housing U.S. troops in Syria.
The Kataib Hezbollah fighters who staged the attack in Karkh were affiliated with the 45th and 46th Brigades of the PMF, the government statement said.
Al-Sudani approved recommendations to remove the commanders of those two brigades, refer all those involved in the raid to the judiciary, and open an investigation into “negligence in leadership and control duties” in the PMF command, it said.
The report also cited structural failings within the PMF, noting the presence of formations that act outside the chain of command.
The relationship between the Iraqi state and the PMF has been a point of tension with the United States as Iraq attempts to balance its relations with Washington and Tehran.
The Iraqi parliament is discussing legislation that would solidify the relationship between the military and the PMF, drawing objections from Washington, which considers some of the armed groups in the coalition, including Kataib Hezbollah, to be terrorist organizations.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Al-Sudani defended the proposed legislation, saying it’s part of an effort to ensure that arms are controlled by the state. “Security agencies must operate under laws and be subject to them and be held accountable,” he said.
Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Baghdad on Monday, July 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — One person died, two people were missing and 16 others were rescued from the waters off San Francisco after a pontoon boat carrying 19 people sank Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
San Francisco Fire Chief Dean Crispen reported the toll and said crews that arrived on the scene near Alcatraz Island found a three-deck pontoon vessel almost fully under water, with the motor still running and leaking fuel.
The waters around Alcatraz Island, once a federal prison and now a tourist destination, attract sailboats and other recreational vessels. It lies in San Francisco Bay about a mile (about 1.6 kilometers) north of the city's shoreline.
The boating mishap was initially reported as a fire, “but we now don’t have any evidence of that,” Crispen said.
Some of the people were injured from falling into the water, but there were no reports of burns, he said. The person who died was alive when plucked from the frigid waters by rescue crews but later died. A dog onboard also died.
Crews continued to search the water for the two missing with divers, helicopters and 11 vessels, Crispen said.
“Right now we are in full rescue mode,” he added.
All those rescued were taken to Gashouse Cove Marina, a small craft harbor in San Francisco. Three people with injuries from falling from the boat were taken to the hospital, Crispen said.
Fire Lt. Mariano Elias said the vessel, described as a “pontoon pleasure boat,” was about 600 yards (about 550 meters) from Alcatraz and the emergency call came in just after 3:30 p.m.
Crispen said the vessel was believed to have launched near the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco. A person who answered the phone there said the club did not have any information on what happened.
Video images from a local Fox station showed a Fire Department boat deployed to rescue people who had been on the vessel, which was largely submerged with objects floating nearby.
Live video from the scene showed a man and a woman wrapped in blankets and sitting on a curb before walking to a nearby ambulance. A yellow tarp covered a body on the dock.
The Coast Guard and Oakland police also helped in the rescue, Elias said.
A U.S. Coast Guard crew goes past Alcatraz Island near the site of a pontoon boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
A body is covered with a tarp on a dock near the site of boat accident on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Emergency crews gather at a dock near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Emergency crews stage near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
An Oakland Police boat is docked near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Haven Daley)
A U.S. Coast Guard crew patrols near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026 in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Emergency crews gather at a dock near the site of a pontoon boat fire on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
