2024-02-10 13:03:00
Umbrella group of Iran-backed militias vows to expel US troops from Iraq
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias in the country, says it will resume attacks on US targets and expel US troops from the country.
In a statement issued late Friday, he said that the United States, which he refers to as the occupying enemy, understands nothing more than the “language of weapons” and that recent US attacks in Iraq, including the death of the top commander of Kataib Hezbollah Wisam Mohammed Saber al-Saedi in Baghdad on Wednesday, “violated the rules of engagement.”
The IRI will respond with “strikes and widespread attacks,” he said, calling on others to join the resistance. He also said that he was pouring all his efforts into “expelling the occupation in this historic state in Iraq and the region.”
At around the same time on Friday night, the Kataib Hezbollah militia, one of the IRI’s most powerful armed factions, swore revenge for the death of its commander Al-Saedi in a message on Telegram.
“It is the stage of revenge, and liberation and hell are coming,” he said.
Late last month, Kataib Hezbollah said it would suspend its military operations against US forces in the region, two days after a drone attack killed three US military personnel and injured dozens of people.
However, the United States pledged to respond to the deaths of American soldiers and, to that end, carried out deadly retaliation attacks in Iraq and Syria last week.
Kataib Hezbollah is not only part of the IRI, but also of the Hashd al Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), a predominantly Shia paramilitary force backed by Iran and based in Iraq. Unlike other Iranian-backed groups in the region, the PMU is linked to the Iraqi government and officially dependent on the Iraqi military forces.
1707576157
#news #retaliation #attacks #Iraq #Syria #tension #Middle #East