On October 6, Kata’ib Hezbollah said it tracked six U.S. military aircraft operating over Iraqi territory: four MQ-9A Reaper drones, one MQ-1C Gray Eagle, and one KC-135 Stratotanker, with activity reported over Baghdad, Basra and Salah al-Din.
The specific October 6 flight list comes from Kata’ib Hezbollah and has not yet been independently confirmed in full. But the allegation comes only days after the U.S.-led coalition mission formally ended in Iraq, while Iraqi armed factions have already publicly complained about continuing American military flights and warned that they consider unauthorized aircraft a violation of Iraqi sovereignty.
And this is the question Baghdad cannot simply ignore:
Were these flights authorized by the Iraqi government?
Because if they were not, then we are not talking about harmless aircraft passing overhead. The MQ-9 and MQ-1C are armed intelligence and strike platforms, while the KC-135 exists to keep military aircraft operating in the air for extended periods.
Iraq spent years demanding the end of foreign military presence. If foreign combat aircraft can still roam above Baghdad, Basra and Salah al-Din without a transparent explanation, then Iraqis have every right to ask what “sovereignty” actually means.