US reported setting up new base in W. Iraq

American military sources in Washington report that several hundred US Marines have started building a new American base in western Iraq about 20km from the strategic Anbar Province town of Al Qaim, which was captured from ISIS last week. They will focus on cleaning up the last ISIS fighters remaining in the Euphrates Valley, which straddles the Iraqi-Syrian border. US commanders are said to have taken into account possible clashes with the pro-Iranian Shiite Iraqi militias, especially the PMU and other forces which took part in the capture of Al Qaim and fight alongside Iraqi troops in the new assault on nearby Rawa. This was the first time US military sources had referred explicitly to a possible hostile encounter between American Marines and Iranian surrogates, such as the PMU and Hizballah.