Iraq has said it will summon the US charge d’affaires and the Iranian ambassador after deadly strikes blamed on their countries, as Iraqi authorities granted targeted former paramilitary groups the “right to respond”, AFP reports.

The former paramilitary Hashed al-Shaabi coalition, part of Iraq’s regular armed forces but which also includes brigades belonging to Iran-backed groups, blamed the United States for the deadliest strike so far on Iraqi territory, which killed a commander and 14 other fighters.

In the autonomous Kurdistan region, a ballistic missile attack killed six of the regional force’s fighters, known as the peshmerga. The region accused Iran of conducting the first such deadly attack on Kurdish security forces since the war began.

Neither the US nor Iran commented on the accusations, but in a statement, Iraq said its foreign ministry would summon both representatives to “deliver formal notes of protest regarding the attacks”.