Shiite militias

The Iraqi government on Thursday condemned U.S. strikes on Iran-backed Shiite militia groups, including Wednesday’s strike that reportedly killed the leader of one of the most powerful militias, Kataib Hezbollah.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said on Tuesday he wants a “quick” withdrawal of U.S. and allied forces from Iraq, but he has not set a firm deadline for withdrawal.

U.S. and UK warships and aircraft shot down drones, cruise missiles, and a ballistic missile overnight, “the largest attack” by Houthis yet.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella organization of Iran-backed Shiite militia groups in Iraq, claimed responsibility on Monday for attacking Israel’s Red Sea port city of Eilat.

Iran-backed Shiite militia forces in Iraq on Tuesday claimed credit for launching explosive-laden drones at bases housing U.S. forces.

CENTCOM reports two dozen U.S. personnel were injured during drone attacks by Iran-backed militia groups in Iraq and Syria last week.

The White House accused Iran of “actively facilitating” attacks by Shiite militia groups against U.S. positions in Iraq and Syria.

Two military bases in Iraq that host U.S. and coalition forces were attacked with rockets and drones on Thursday, in an apparent effort by Iran-controlled Shiite militias to make good on their threats to attack American interests if the U.S. continues to support Israel against the terrorists of Hamas.

An Iran-backed Iraqi Shiite militia has threatened to attack American bases in Iraq if the U.S. aids Israel against the terrorists of Hamas.

The Long War Journal reported last week that two senior officials from the Biden State Department, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Alina Romanowski and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Barbara Leaf, attended a conference in Iraq that was headlined by a known terrorist whose militias have killed hundreds of American soldiers. 

Six rockets hit Baghdad International Airport on Friday in an assault that damaged runways and one civilian plane. The U.S. blamed hostile Iran-linked terrorist militias for the attack.

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), announced on Thursday that another 3,500 troops will be sent to Iraq, joining 500 NATO forces already in the country. The United States currently has about 2,500 troops in Iraq.

Shiite Muslim militia groups in Iraq offered on Sunday to halt their attacks on U.S. and coalition troops if they agree to withdraw from Iraqi soil. The offer was made hours after a coalition convoy suffered damage from a roadside bomb south of Baghdad.

Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr arranged a sizable anti-American demonstration in Baghdad on Friday, putting his followers on the streets alongside ongoing protests against corruption and the excessive political influence of Iran.

A mob attacked the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad on Tuesday, prompting some embassy staff to evacuate. The mob was angered by last weekend’s U.S. airstrikes against the Iran-backed Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah (KH), which killed an American civilian contractor in a rocket attack last week.

U.S. warplanes struck targets in Iraq and Syria over the weekend, killing at least 25 members of an Iran-backed Shiite militia group called Kataib Hezbollah that was held responsible for a rocket attack on Friday that killed an American civilian contractor.

Two unnamed Iraqi security officials told Reuters on Thursday that snipers from Iran-backed militia units were employed to kill civilians during the massive protests that erupted in the first week of October.

Massive demonstrations were held in Baghdad on Wednesday against corruption, government inefficiency, and high unemployment.

Reuters on Wednesday quoted two Iraqi security sources who revealed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued warnings about Iran-backed Shiite militia threatening U.S. bases in Iraq with missiles when he paid a surprise visit to Baghdad on May 7.

Iraqi President Barham Salih on Monday denounced Trump’s comment that one reason for maintaining a U.S. military base in Iraq is to “watch Iran,” stressing the importance of maintaining good relations with Iran, while the Iraqi parliament launched a debate on expelling American troops from the country entirely.

State sponsor of terrorism Iran is providing “ballistic missiles” to Tehran-allied Shiite militia groups in Iraq, a top U.S. Department of State (DOS) official declared Thursday.

Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq thanked Japan on Wednesday for helping the Kurdistan region solve a major problem it had with electricity shortages by signing a ten-year, nearly $120 million contract.

The Syrian air force has forbidden Iranian forces and their allied Shiite militias from using its aircraft hangars and other facilities on its military bases, in light of repeated Israeli attacks, a Syrian news outlet reported on Sunday.

Health personnel in Iraq’s Diyala province rushed more than 100 Shiite militiamen from a Baghdad-sanctioned group backed by Iran to the hospital after they reportedly ate poisoned food at an Iraqi restaurant.

TEL AVIV — Egypt and the world are still trying to comprehend the massacre on Friday committed by terrorists in a mosque in Sinai, an attack in which more than 305 worshippers were reportedly killed and dozens more wounded.

Factions of the Iran-backed, largely Shiite militia coalition known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) began fighting each other on Tuesday in Iraqi territory they wrested out of the hands of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), according to a Kurdish news outlet.

Reports on Friday morning indicated that the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga had reached a ceasefire agreement with the Iraqi military, which began an invasion into Kurdish territory following September’s independence referendum in Kurdistan.

Kurdish authorities estimate that 100,000 people have fled Kirkuk, Iraq this week – formerly under control of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) but now lost to the Baghdad government and its Iran-backed Shiite militia allies.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq announced it had signed a deal with the Russian state-owned oil corporation Rosneft that would allow the company to begin developing oil blocks worth a potential $400 million to the Kurds.

Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Rob Manning told reporters on Monday that the U.S. military could potentially reconsider supporting the Iraqi military if attacks on Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) territory continued, emphasizing that he would not “speculate” on any future actions at the moment.

Terrorists affiliated with the Islamic State have resurfaced in the Kirkuk region of Iraq, reportedly attacking two villages north of Kirkuk city mere hours after the Iraqi military and its Iran-backed militia allies began an invasion against the Kurdish government controlling the city.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has deployed 6,000 Peshmerga troops to the disputed Kirkuk region in Iraq, as Shiite militias have reportedly approached the city under the auspices of the government in Baghdad, which has rejected the KRG’s independence referendum.

Representatives of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq (KRG), including a spokesman for the Peshmerga, has requested the United States increase its aid to the group as the Peshmerga undergo a major restructuring intended to evolve them from one of the most effective militias in Iraq into the military of an independent Kurdistan.

Iraqi officials are preparing for the arrival of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to the nation’s largest city, Mosul, to declare victory after three years of Islamic State (ISIS) control.

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that a future war waged by Israel against Syria or Lebanon could draw thousands of fighters from countries including Iran and Iraq.

Iran has called in the Swiss charge d’affaires, who looks after US interests, to protest against comments by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson backing “peaceful transition” in the Islamic republic.