IRAQ CONDEMNS US DRONE STRIKE ON MILITIA LEADERS
▶ Iran-backed group vows to retaliate for attack that killed two Kataib Hezbollah commanders
The Iraqi government has denounced an American drone strike that killed two high-ranking militia leaders in Baghdad, saying the attack breached the country’s sovereignty.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Yahya Rasool described the drone attack on Wednesday night in the city’s eastern Al Mashtal district as “a clear assassination by launching an air strike in the midst of a residential area”.
Kataib Hezbollah leaders Wissam Mohammed Sabir Al Saiedi and Arkam Al Alyawi were travelling in a car when it was struck by missiles.
Al Saiedi was a senior commander of the Iran-backed militia, which operates in Iraq and Syria. He was believed to have managed the group’s missile capabilities.
Conflicting reports emerged on the number of those killed, with US officials saying one person was dead. But militia officials in Iraq told The National that two had been killed, including Al Saiedi, while other agencies reported three deaths.
The Iraqi government did not give a specific death toll.
The attack was launched at a time of growing regional tensions, with an Israeli air strike on Thursday reportedly killing a senior Hezbollah official in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh.
The official was suspected of launching rockets into Israel.
Harakat Al Nujaba, an Iranbacked militia group allied with Kataib Hezbollah, vowed revenge against the US for the strike. “These crimes will not pass without punishment,” the group warned.
The US previously promised to retaliate against Kataib Hezbollah and other Iran-backed militias over an attack on a base in Jordan that killed three American soldiers and injured more than 30.
US forces are engaged in an escalating cycle of violence
with armed Tehran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria that has intensified since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
US strikes against militia targets on Iraqi territory have pushed the government in Baghdad to respond to long-standing calls for US forces to leave the country.
About 2,500 US troops are stationed in Iraq, having arrived as part of the international coalition against ISIS.
Maj Gen Rasool said the latest strike showed that US troops were no longer fulfilling their mission in Iraq.
“By this act, the American forces jeopardise civil peace, violate Iraqi sovereignty, and disregard the safety and lives of our citizens,” he said.
“Even more concerning is that the coalition consistently deviates from the reasons and objectives for its presence on our territory.”
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani, who is supported by Iran-backed militias and parties, initiated the process for US troops to leave last month.
On January 27, Iraq and the US held the first round of talks to end the international coalition’s mission, with Baghdad expecting discussions to lead to a timetable for reducing the coalition’s presence and bilateral security agreements with the individual states.
But the talks between Baghdad and Washington were paused after the deadly drone attack the following day on an American base in Jordan, which the US attributed to Kataib Hezbollah.
This latest attack appears to have galvanised pressure to resume the process.
Maj Gen Rasool said the latest attack meant the Iraqi government “more than ever” had to work to end the coalition’s presence in the country.
“This trajectory compels the Iraqi government more than ever to terminate the mission of this coalition, which has become a factor for instability and threatens to entangle Iraq in the cycle of conflict, and our armed forces cannot neglect their constitutional duties and responsibilities, which demand safeguarding the security of Iraqis and the land of Iraq from all threats,” he said.
Shiite political factions also condemned the attack and said US troops must depart.
Iraq’s Parliament said it would hold a session on Saturday to discuss “the aggressions on Iraqi sovereignty”, after a request by Shiite politician Youssif Al Kilabi.
The Co-ordination Framework, the biggest parliamentary group of Iran-backed militias and political parties, said the US had “crossed red lines”.
“The continuation of such attacks will open the door for retaliatory attacks, and it will not stop there,” it warned.
Qais Al Khazaali, leader of the influential militia Asaib Ahl Al Haq, called for a request to be sent to the UN Security Council demanding the immediate withdrawal of foreign troops.
The US “will not stop this disregard and recklessness”, he said.
Shiite cleric Ammar Al Hakim, who leads Al Hikma movement, said that the strike will have consequences for security in the region, adding to its “complexity”.
An Iraqi citizen who spoke to The National from the site of the strikes criticised the “unacceptable” attacks.
“I condemn this heinous act that targeted Hashd Al Shaabi forces and their leaders,” said Watban Al Khazraji, using the Iraqi name for the Popular Mobilisation Forces, the umbrella organisation for Iran-backed Shiite militias in the country.
“This happens to us two or three times a week. This is unacceptable internationally and customarily,” he said.
Kataib Hezbollah stopped short of announcing a resumption of attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria.
The group announced late last month that it was suspending military operations against US troops in the region.
The decision came days after the drone strike that killed three US troops in north-eastern Jordan, an attack the Pentagon said had the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah.
The group is part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose coalition of Tehran-backed militias that also includes Harakat Al Nujaba.
In contrast to Kataib Hezbollah, these other Tehran-backed groups have vowed to continue attacks against the US.
In a tribute to Al Saiedi on Telegram, Harakat Al Nujaba called on fighters to seek “revenge for the martyrs by retributing from America and its aides, partners and interests”.
“Let this be our path and let it be our first cause from now on,” the group said.
“These crimes will not pass without punishment.”