Iranian media reported that the head of Iranian-backed Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces left the front lines of Fallujah yesterday to brief a senior cleric in Najaf, who praised the forces and stressed the protection of civilians.

Abu Ezrael, a famous commander in Iranian-backed Shiite militias who has burned an Islamic State fighter alive, taped a message addressing both the enemies and friends of Iran.

Foreign Minister Ibrahim Jafari defended Qassem Soleimani’s role in bolstering sectarian militias that have often acted outside of the law in Iraq as they battle the Islamic State.

The Iranian, who spoke in Farsi, belongs to the “Ansar al Hojja,” a militia that was formed in June 2014 and battles the Islamic State.
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Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour’s presence in Fallujah alongside Qassem Soleimani underscores the importance of operations in Iraq to the IRGC’s leadership.

Ahead of an anticipated assault to recapture Khan Touman, Iranian media claim Iraqi militia Harakat al Nujaba has deployed its ground and missile units.
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Senior Iraqi Shia militia leader Abu Mahdi al Muhandis told a reporter that the second phase of the Fallujah operation was imminent. He criticized US airstrikes in Fallujah and announced his forces were prepared to enter the city if requested.

Muqtada al Sadr, the radical Shia cleric who battled US forces during the Iraqi occupation, is preparing his militia to participate in an offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul from the Islamic State. The US military has insisted that Iranian-backed militias will not fight in Mosul.

The deployment would mark the first time that Army forces, including commandos and snipers of the Rapid Response Battalions, have operated outside Iranian borders since the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s.

“We want to be a third power in Iraq,” the commander of Saraya Khorasani said. “Why can’t the Hashd [Popular Mobilization Force] be like the Revolutionary Guard in Iran?”

Harakat al Nujaba has a long history with Hezbollah and Iran, in both Iraq and Syria. “The blood of Hezbollah which flowed in the land of Iraq is our responsibility for so long as we exist,” the group’s spokesman said.

Omar al Shishani’s status has been uncertain since the US announced it targeted him last week, and it is still unknown if he is dead, alive, or seriously wounded.

The Islamic State has released a new video (titled “Kill Them Wherever You Find Them”) featuring the terrorist team responsible for the Nov. 13, 2015 coordinated attacks in Paris. Some of the jihadists address the camera before or after committing grisly executions that were broadcast in previous videos.

The League of the Righteous, which has threatened Americans in Iraq and also carried out several kidnappings, is the prime suspect. The Shiite militia has denied any involvement in the abduction of the three Americans.

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.

A US military spokesman said earlier today that five members of the Islamic State’s external operations arm were killed in recent airstrikes. Some of the jihadists are believed to have ties to the terrorist cell that struck Paris on Nov. 13.

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.
