Kataib Hezbollah, a powerful Iranian-backed militia, might cease its attacks in Iraq if certain conditions are met, it said Wednesday.
It has asked Israel to halt its operations in Beirut. But it has also created other conditions that make it seem unlikely it would comply with its offer.
This appears to be the first time that an Iranian-backed militia has said it might cease attacks, which began on February 28 in parallel with the US and Israeli strikes against Iran.
The Iranian regime has used the militias in Iraq to carry out dozens of attacks on American facilities there, including the US embassy in Baghdad and the US consulate in Erbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq.
Additionally, the militias have carried out hundreds of attacks in the Kurdistan Region.
Kataib Hezbollah is considered the most senior of the militias in Iraq and the one closest to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The US considers Kataib Hezbollah to be a terrorist group. It is part of the Popular Mobilization Force in Iraq, a government-backed paramilitary group. Several dozen brigades inside the PMF are also Iranian-backed militias.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq form a central pillar of Tehran’s regional influence. Most of them have been designated as terrorist organizations and sanctioned by the US State Department and the US Treasury Department.
Groups such as Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba have been linked to attacks on US forces and coalition facilities over the past few years.
Asaib Ahl al-Haq, another prominent faction, has also been sanctioned for its role in violence and its ties to the IRGC. Additional groups, such as Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Ashab al-Kahf, are also part of the terrorist network of militias.
Airstrikes hit Jurf Sakhr militia HQ, attacks spread in Iraq
When the US and Israel began attacks against Iran, there were also airstrikes on the militia headquarters at Jurf Sakhr near Baghdad. No country took responsibility for those strikes.
The militias then began attacks across Iraq, which escalated. There have been numerous strikes on the militias, and they appear to have lost dozens of fighters.
Now, in a new twist, Kataib Hezbollah has announced it could begin a five-day pause in its attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad.
Abu Majeed Assaf, a senior figure in the terrorist militia, said the decision was ordered by its leader, Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi, alias Abu Fadak.
The group has conditions: It wants Israel to stop operations targeting Hezbollah in Beirut, an end to airstrikes on the militias in Iraq, and for the CIA to remain inside the US embassy.
“The group also called for US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel to remain inside the embassy compound, noting that this condition does not apply to the Kurdistan Region,” Kurdistan Region-based news channel Rudaw Media Network reported.
Kataib Hezbollah said if “the enemy fails to comply, the response will be direct, with an escalation of strikes,” the report said.
This means the terrorist group has created impossible conditions that won’t be met, so it can justify more attacks.
Meanwhile, the low-level war continues in Iraq. Iran has sought to spread the war to Iraq.
“A fighter from Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) was killed and several others wounded in an attack targeting their position in Salahaddin province early on Thursday, the group said, as attacks continue on pro-Iran groups in Iraq amid escalating regional tensions,” Rudaw Media Network reported.
Kazim al-Fartousi, a spokesperson for Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, “said in an interview with Rudaw that the group considers US forces stationed in Iraq as legitimate targets, accusing them of launching attacks from bases in northern Iraq,” the report said.
Attacks have continued in Iraq. Explosions from drone attacks were heard in the Kurdistan Region on Wednesday.
Three Peshmerga fighters were wounded in drone attacks in Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga Ministry reported Wednesday.
Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani spoke with Turkish Consul General in Erbil Erman Topcu on Wednesday, the report said, adding that Barzani “stressed the need to intensify diplomatic efforts to prevent the expansion of the ongoing regional war and keep Iraq and the Kurdistan Region out of the conflict.”