Armed group threatens US military, civilian sites in Iraq

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — A video featuring a group of armed, masked men has called for the expulsion of US troops and civilians from Iraq, amid alleged attacks on Iran-backed militia groups in the country.

 

Calling themselves “Jund al-Imam al-Hujja,” the group addresses US President Donald Trump, promising to attack US civil and military sites in the country if soldiers and civilians do not leave. 

“We promise to attack every single US civil and military base within Iraq if Trump does not withdraw them,” the armed, masked men said in the video published to social media on Tuesday.

“The US troops are invaders of Iraq, and we will not rest until we expel the US invaders,” they added.

The group claims to follow the “strategy” of the now deceased Ayatollah Muhammed Muhammed Sadiq al-Sadr, whose photo hangs in the background of the video. He is the grandfather of Shiite cleric and political kingmaker Muqtada al-Sadr.

An image of Muqtada al-Sadr’s father, Shiite cleric Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, can also be seen behind the men. 

Muqtada al-Sadr is head of the predominantly-Shiite Sayirun alliance – the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament. He is also head of the Saraya al-Salam paramilitias, which form part of Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, known as Hashd al-Shaabi in Arabic).

US troops withdrew from Iraq in 2011, but were invited back to the country in 2014 to advise and train Iraqi forces in the fight against Islamic State (ISIS).

The Sayirun alliance has made repeated demands for the expulsion of US troops from the country, despite insistence by Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi that they are in the country by invitation.

In the Tuesday video, Jund al-Imam al-Hujja accused the US of targeting “our” bases in Iraq – likely in response to a string of alleged attacks on bases belonging to the Iran-backed, predominantly Shiite PMF.

PMF deputy head Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis blamed the explosions on a US and Israeli strike effort in an August 21 statement. 

Since then, the US has twice denied involvement in the explosions.

“US forces did not conduct the recent attack on a convoy or any recent attacks that resulted in the explosion of ammunition storage facilities in Iraq. Statements to the contrary are false, misleading, and inflammatory,” Pentagon spokesman Jonathan R. Hoffman said in a Monday statement. Another Pentagon spokesman, Commander Sean Robertson, denied US involvement on Thursday.
 

“We support Iraqi sovereignty and have repeatedly spoken out against any potential actions by external actors inciting violence in Iraq.”

Blame for the attacks has for the most part been placed on Israel, known to be attacking Iranian and Iran-backed targets in neighbouring Syria.

But in a late Monday statement, Muqtada al-Sadr said he is “sure” that Israel is not behind the attacks against PMF.

“It [Israel] knows [the Iraqi] response will be seismic to its security and influence. The Zionists know their end will come from Iraq,” he said.