Additionally, the group’s leader, Qais al Khazali, and his brother, Laith al Khazali, have been listed as Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Both Qais and Laith were in U.S. custody up until the withdrawal from Iraq in December 2011.
A spokesman of the group warns US troops in Iraq, while also threatening Israel in a speech that alludes to Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The group is likely a front for other Iranian proxies inside Iraq.
Another member of Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance” has been sanctioned by Washington. How the U.S. enforces its penalty is set to matter more than its announcement.
The security official of Iran’s proxy group Kata’ib Hezbollah (Hezbollah Brigades) gives Iraqi contractors until March 15 to stop working with US troops.
The killing of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis last week reportedly claimed the lives of eight lesser-known colleagues as well. The death of these aides indicates that those who serve designated terrorists may suffer the same fate as their superiors.
The U.S. Department of Defense confirmed the attack was “launched from Iran” and that it “targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military & coalition personnel at Al-Assad & Irbil.” No casualties have been reported.
Muqtada al Sadr has reactivated two of his longstanding militia forces in Iraq in response to the U.S. killing Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
