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Popular Mobilization Force threatened to persecute Christians celebrating Christmas in Baghdad
This month, the Popular Mobilization Force began harassing Christians in Baghdad by suggesting women wear the hijab, or veil, and instructing the minority not to celebrate Christmas.
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Al Nusrah Front fights Iraqi militia in Aleppo
Iranian-backed Shia militias are fighting for Assad in Aleppo as regime forces, backed by Hezbollah and Russian airstrikes, try to push back jihadists and rebels in the northern province.
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Qods Force commander spotted with US-designated terrorist in Aleppo
Harakat al Nujaba leader Akram al Kaabi met with Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s Qods Force, in Aleppo, Syria, according to the Iraqi Shiite militia.
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Iraqi Shiite militia leader says he would overthrow government if ordered by Iran’s supreme leader
Akram al Kaabi, the leader of the Iranian-supported Harakat al Nujaba militia that is based in Iraq and an integral part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, has said that he follows Iran’s supreme leader and would participate in a coup if ordered to do so.
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Senior IRGC officers killed during fighting in Syria
A brigadier general and a colonel from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were killed while fighting jihadists and rebels. Nine other IRGC members, including two lower-level officers, were also killed in Syria over the past three weeks.
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Islamic State battles Iraqi forces near Samarra
The Islamic State continues to harass Iraqi troops and Shiite militias around the central city of Samarra. Jihadists recently overran several areas near Samarra and deployed foreign suicide bombers during its assault.
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Popular Mobilization Committee militia threatens to ‘strike and destroy’ the Saudi government
Sayyid al Shuhada said it would “strike and destroy” Saudi interests, not just in Iraq, but inside the kingdom. The militia, which operates as part of the Iraqi government, Iran, and the US-backed Popular Mobilization Committee, is led by Abu Mustafa al Sheibani, a dangerous commander who is listed by the US as a global terrorist.
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US praises role of Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Baiji operation
Officials continue to whitewash the role that Iranian-backed Shiite militias play in Iraq’s offensive against the Islamic State. The US continues to provide airstrikes to these militias, which are Iranian clients responsible for killing hundreds of American soldiers and remain hostile to the US.
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Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani rallies Iranian officers, Hezbollah in Syria
Photographs show the notorious Qods Force commander addressing Iranian officers and Hezbollah forces in Latakia. Iran is reported to have deployed significant forces, estimated at thousands of troops, to support the Assad regime’s offensive in northwestern Syria.
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Islamic State kills Iranian general in Syria
Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani is the third senior Iraqi military adviser who has been killed in the Syrian-Iraqi theater since the beginning of the year.
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US counterterrorism efforts in Syria: A winning strategy?
Testimony to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade on the US counterterrorism strategy in Syria. “The West’s involvement is ad hoc, tactical and reactionary.”
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Iraqi Shiite militia promotes training camp named after Qods Force general
Saraya al Khorasani, an Iranian-backed Shiite militia that operates alongside the Iraqi military, released a video showing the “Sheikh Hajj Hamid Taqavi training center.” Taqavi was an Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps – Qods Force general who was killed by an Islamic State sniper.
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Al Nusrah Front, allies strike 2 Shiite towns in Idlib province
The Al Nusrah Front, Ahrar al Sham, Jund al Aqsa, and the Turkistan Islamic Party have launched significant operations targeting two Shiite villages in the Idlib province of Syria. Their attacks are a response to the siege of Zabadani, a southern Syrian city, by Bashar al Assad’s regime and its allies.
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Senior al Qaeda leaders reportedly released from custody in Iran
Five veteran jihadists, including three members of al Qaeda’s management council, have reportedly been released from custody in Iran as part of a hostage exchange. The details of their detention and release from Iranian custody are murky.
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Iraqi Hezbollah Brigades suspected of kidnapping Turkish workers
One Iraqi soldier was killed today as the military raided a Hezbollah Brigades headquarters while searching for 18 Turkish construction workers who were kidnapped in Baghdad.
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Gulf states pay price for intervention against Houthis in Yemen
The Houthis have destroyed several armored vehicles, including US-supplied M1 Abrams tanks, while battling Saudi and Emirati troops.
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Badr Organization fighters pose with US M1 Abrams tank
A Badr fighter also displays an AT4 anti-tank rocket. US equipment that has been supplied to the Iraqi military continues to fall into the hands of Iranian-backed Shiite militias.
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Iraq’s PM introduces US-designated terrorist to Iran’s President
During yesterday’s meeting in Tehran between Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the former introduced the latter to Abu Mahdi al Muhandis, the operations chief for the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Committee and a US-listed Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
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Iraqi Prime Minister photographed with SDGT Abu Mahdi al Muhandis
Leading Iraqi political and religious leaders such as Prime Minister Haidar al Abadi and Grand Ayatollah Sistani have been reduced to cozying up to what John Allen, the US Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition To Counter ISIL, or the Islamic State, described as the “extremist elements” of the Popular Mobilization Committee.
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Iraqi Shiite militia commander threatens to attack US
Akram Abbas al Kabi, a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and the leader of the Harakat Nujaba, said his group and others “will seek revenge” for what he claimed was a US airstrike that killed 10 members of the League of the Righteous.
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Qods Force commander Soleimani reportedly spotted in Anbar province
Qods Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani was also photographed in Baghdad with Popular Mobilization Committee chief Abu Mahdi al Muhandis and Imam Ali Brigade leader Shebl al Zaydi. The images contradict US official’s claims that Iran and its Shiite militia proxies are not involved in the Anbar counteroffensive.
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Iranian military commander killed fighting in Ramadi
Commander Jassem Nouri is likely a member of Qods Force, the external operations branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Qods Force. He was advising Shiite militias, such as Hezbollah Brigades, who are engaged in fighting in Iraq’s Anbar province.
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US support for Iranian-backed Shiite militias ‘should not alarm us,’ General Allen says
US officials and generals continue to downplay the involvement of Iranian-backed Shiite militias in offensives in Iraq, and their dominance of the Popular Mobilization Committee.
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Iranian-backed militias lead Iraqi counteroffensive to retake Ramadi
Iranian-supported militias, including Hezbollah Brigades, a US-listed Foreign Terrorist Organization, are advancing against the Islamic State east of Ramadi. The US is providing air support.
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Islamic State, Shiite militias square off east of Ramadi
The Islamic State is attacking Iraqi forces and Iranian-backed Shiite militias that have regrouped at Habbaniyah, the last major city between Ramadi and Fallujah.
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Muqtada al Sadr threatens to ‘unfreeze the military wing,’ attack US interests
“If America persists” in advocating for a Sunni and Kurdish state outside of Iraq, “then it will cease to exist,” the Iranian-backed cleric threatened.
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An al Qaeda front group in Syria
In a tweet last month, Jund al Aqsa, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Syria, identified Adel Radi Saker al Wahabi al Harbi as its fallen military commander. Al Harbi was wanted by the US government, had previously served as the deputy leader of al Qaeda’s Iran network, and was a member of al Qaeda’s so-called “Khorasan Group.”
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Lebanese Army defector portrayed as ‘martyr’ in Al Nusrah Front video
The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, has released a video portraying Osama Mansur as a “martyr” for its anti-Iranian, anti-Hezbollah cause. Mansur served in the Lebanese Army before defecting to Al Nusrah.
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Obama warns Iran its fighters in Iraq must answer to Baghdad
Obama warns Iran its fighters in Iraq must answer to Baghdad
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Yemeni militiamen say captured two Iranian officers in Aden
Yemeni militiamen say captured two Iranian officers in Aden
