The fighters belonged to the Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an alliance of factions now integrated into the regular army that also includes powerful Iran-backed groups.

Four were killed in a strike on their base, a source from the group said.

Four others were from the powerful Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah -- also part of the PMF -- and were killed in an air strike near the Syrian border, two sources from the pro-Iran faction told AFP.

Baghdad, a key ally of Tehran, has announced a three-day mourning period for Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a strike on Saturday.

Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, said it did not want to be dragged into the war, but it has not remained unscathed.

An Iraqi security official told AFP that an air strike in the central Diyala province killed four fighters from the PMF, with another eight injured.

A PMF source confirmed "the martyrdom of four fighters in an attack on their base" in Diyala.

The Hashed al-Shaabi later said the fighters were killed in a "Zionist-American bombing", and posted photos from their funeral, where mourners carried Iranian and Iraqi flags.

A source from Kataeb Hezbollah, meanwhile, said four of its fighters were likewise "martyred in an American-Israeli bombing" near the al-Qaim border crossing in western Iraq. A second source confirmed the toll.

New explosions were also heard Sunday evening in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region, which hosts US-led coalition troops.

Loud bangs shook the city, according to AFP journalists near the US consulate and the Erbil airport, where US-led troops are deployed.

Earlier on Sunday, Iran, which has been targeting the Gulf states and Israel with a barrage of missiles, said it also hit US bases in Iraq's Kurdistan.

US defence systems later intercepted drones over Erbil.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is a loose alliance of pro-Iran backed groups including powerful factions, claimed attacks with dozens of drones against US bases in Iraq and the region, without providing any details.

Like the US, Iran wields significant influence in Iraqi politics, while also backing armed groups whose power has grown both politically and financially.

- 'Embassy of evil' -

Several Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups have said they would not remain "neutral" and would defend the Islamic republic, including Kataeb Hezbollah.

The group said it would attack US bases after two of its fighters were killed in air strikes Saturday in southern Iraq.

Also Saturday, US-led coalition forces downed several missiles and explosive-laden drones over Erbil, local authorities said.

Pro-Iran groups later said they launched dozens of drones against "the enemy bases in Iraq and the region", without providing further details.

The US embassy in Iraq urged its nationals to limit movement and be ready to shelter after "reports of missiles, drones or rockets in Iraqi airspace".

On Sunday, hundreds of protesters, many masked and dressed in black, tried to storm Baghdad's Green Zone to get to the US embassy.

They chanted "for you Khamenei" and hurled stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas, AFP journalists reported.

Abu Ali al-Kanani, 56, who was leading a group of protesters, said "we are here to demand the expulsion of the Americans and the closure of the embassy of evil".

Angry protesters clashed again with security forces near the embassy on Sunday evening.

The US embassy had warned earlier that demonstrations near its compound "may turn violent".

It added on X that it was "tracking active threats to US interests in Iraq including restaurants, businesses and individuals".

Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, himself born in Iran, mourned Khamenei, and said that "the great Iranian people are expected to maintain their unity, to stand firm and thwart the aggressors' sinister goals."

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