After U.S. Strikes In Iraq, Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias: Blatant Violation Of Iraqi Sovereignty, National Honor; 'Our Only Option Is Resistance'

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On December 26, 2023, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that, "In response to multiple attacks against coalition forces in Iraq and Syria, U.S. military forces conducted airstrikes against multiple facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah and affiliated groups in Iraq at 8:45 p.m. (EST) on Dec. 25… Early assessments indicate that these airstrikes destroyed the targeted facilities and likely killed a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants."[1]

Telegram channels that belong to Al-Hashd Al-Sha'abi (Popular Mobilization Units, PMU) and Iran-backed Iraqi militias reported that in these airstrikes one PMU member was killed and more than 20 PMU operatives and members of the Iraqi security forces were wounded, as well as two civilians.[2] On the same day, several Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militias issued statements in which they harshly condemned the American attacks and described them as "crimes" and "terrorist operations" which blatantly violate Iraq's sovereignty and national honor. They added that such operations will only increase their determination to liberate their country from "the contamination of the occupation," and asserted, "Our only option is resistance."

The following are translated details from the statements referred to above:

On December 26, 2023, the Ahl Al-Kahf Telegram channel, which supports the Ashab Ahl Al-Kahf militia, posted a message on its Telegram channel in which it condemned the American "terrorist attacks" on PMU bases and security forces, and claimed that they caused the death of one of its operatives and wounded many others. The group described the attacks as "a blatant violation of the sovereignty of Iraq," and added that "the attack on the brave members of the resistance in Iraq and the region will only increase our determination to liberate our country from the contamination of the oppressive occupiers and to defend the oppressed. The occupying enemy will not enjoy security and safety throughout our country and the region as long as there is a pulse in our veins. Our only option is resistance."[3]

On the same day, in a post on his Telegram channel, Iraqi Hizbullah Brigades militia spokesman Abu Ali Al-Askari also condemned the American attacks and wrote, "The crimes committed by the American occupation forces against our Iraqi people provide the resistance with redoubled motivation to fight and to continue to fulfill its religious and moral obligations to defend our people and to remove the occupation, defeated, from the land of the holy places." He criticized the statements recently issued by the Iraqi government (the reference is apparently to those published against the perpetrators of the December 7 rocket attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad) and claimed that they "grant a mandate to the occupation forces to attack members of the PMU and the security forces." He further stated that the party which violates the law is the one that "hands over the Iraqi land and airspace to America to carry out its crimes in Iraq and the region." Al-Askari also warned government officials "not to test our patience" and "to learn from their predecessors."^[4]

Also on December 26, Qais Al-Khaz'ali, secretary-general of the Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq militia, posted a statement on his Telegram channel in which he claimed that, day after day, "the American occupier enemy" reveals that its presence in Iraq is for the purpose of carrying out "a plot to violate its national sovereignty" and to attack its security forces. Al-Khaz'ali asserts that the attacks indicate that the U.S. presence in Iraq in particular, and in the region in general, is a "threat to people's dignity and sovereignty, which must be removed by all available means," especially since the December 25 airstrike "coincides with the fourth anniversary of the Iraqi parliament’s passing of a resolution to expel the U.S. forces from Iraq."^[5]

The website of the Iraqi Al-Nujaba Movement militia posted another threat on December 27, in a 90-second video it shared which featured aerial footage of U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq that have been attacked by Iran-backed militias. The video also featured captions in Farsi, Arabic and English which read: "In support of the people in Gaza" and "We swear to god that they [the Americans] will not stay." The video also features footage of the Al-Aqsa 1 missile, which was unveiled by the militia on April 26, 2023. According to the website, this is "the ballistic missile that has surprised the Americans." It also stated, "The Iraqi resistance worried CENTCOM when it unveiled its short-range missile."[6]

It is notable that following the previous attacks, that were carried out in November by the American forces against bases of the Iran-backed militias in Iraq, the militias issued similar statements and threatened that U.S. escalation will be met with 'imminent response" of further escalation.[7]