Kataib Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist organization that forms part of the Iraqi military, issued a bizarre statement on Tuesday pledging to halt attacks on U.S. forces to prevent “embarrassment” for Baghdad.
Kataib Hezbollah, or Hezbollah Brigades, is one of the most powerful Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, a predominantly Shiite militia initially operating against the Sunni Islamic State’s “caliphate” It forms part of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a coalition of It has since been reused to attack American forces and their Kurdish allies. Kataib Hezbollah is also considered to be among the most powerful members of the group.Islamic resistance movement in Iraq” is the umbrella name that various jihadist groups have debuted in support of the terrorist organization Hamas in the wake of the heinous mass murder that took place in Israel on October 7th.
The group’s threat to the United States decreased significantly in 2020 with the execution of its founder and leader, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Muhandis was killed in an airstrike in Baghdad on January 3, 2018, which was launched by former President Donald Trump and ordered to remove Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. The IRGC is the official arm of the Iranian government that funds and supports the PMF Group. Mr. Soleimani was widely considered to be the Revolutionary Guard’s most influential and effective foreign agent.
Under the Biden administration, Kataib Hezbollah has largely reunited and once again poses a threat to U.S. forces.
Kataib Hezbollah is a separate but affiliated organization with the Lebanese terrorist organization Hezbollah.
Most recently, on January 28, the Iraqi Islamic Resistance Movement was credited with a drone strike on a Jordanian-Syrian border outpost, killing three Americans and injuring dozens. It was said that
“To avoid embarrassing the Iraqi government, we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupying forces, but we will continue to protect the Gaza population in other ways,” Kataib Hezbollah declared in a statement. Posted on the encrypted messaging application Telegram. The message added that the group’s terrorists may continue to carry out “self-defense” operations.
The statement did not elaborate on what “embarrassment” it caused for Baghdad or how it would “continue to protect the people of Gaza.”Qatari news agency Al Jazeera Quote The terrorist organization’s senior leader, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, said its allies “often oppose pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria,” including the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. It seems that Iran is also included. Notable patron of the group.
According to the Department of Defense answered Tuesday’s statement was accompanied by a short message: “Actions speak louder than words.”
The statement marks a dramatic shift from the group’s pledge just a week ago to carry out “disastrous” terrorist attacks against Americans.
“Iraqi resistance forces will continue to support Gaza and Israeli-occupied Palestine, while continuing to carry out painful attacks until the US occupation forces are driven from Iraq and the region,” Kataib Hezbollah said a week after its sudden promise. This was said in a statement released shortly after. Iran’s state-run propaganda broadcaster Press TV said it would prevent further attacks on Americans. The group said both it and other PMF organizations would “expand the scope of retaliatory attacks from military bases used by US occupation forces to their interests in Iraq and the entire region.”
The statement was in response to leftist US President Joe Biden ordering airstrikes on Kataib Hezbollah’s “headquarters, storage, and training sites for rocket, missile, and one-way attack drone capabilities.”
“We have no intention of escalating the conflict in the region. We are ready to take further steps to protect our people and facilities. We urge these groups and their sponsor Iran to We ask that these attacks cease immediately,” Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said of the attacks.
The Iraqi government defended Kataib Hezbollah from the attack. I complain These were “unacceptable” violations of Iraq’s sovereignty. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani has repeatedly rejected aid to U.S. forces and their Kurdish allies, calling instead for an end to the U.S. presence in Iraq and calling counterterrorism operations a violation of sovereignty. insisted.
“We are in the process of rebuilding this relationship. With the presence of a capable Iraqi military, the Iraqi government is moving towards ending the presence of international coalition forces,” Sudani said in December. He appears to have promised to work toward the elimination of the US military presence in Iraq.
The Pentagon has recorded at least 165 attacks against Americans in Iraq and Syria since the October 7 atrocity, most of them claimed by the nascent Iraqi Islamic Resistance Movement coalition. There is. In addition to the attacks, Yemen’s Shiite Iranian-backed terrorists have launched a campaign against commercial shipping in the Red Sea, dramatically reducing shipping traffic, increasing shipping costs, and disrupting global commerce. There is confusion.
According to Rudaw, an estimated 2,500 U.S. troops remain in Iraq and 900 in Syria as a result of counterterrorism operations that began in the wake of the September 11, 2001 al-Qaeda terrorist attacks. Most of them are currently working in support efforts against Islamic State remnants in both countries.
