Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah vows to keep arms

BAGHDAD,— The Iraqi Shiite pro-Iran group Kataib Hezbollah said on Saturday it would continue what it described as “jihadist action” as Iraq’s government confronts pressure from the United States to disarm factions supported by Iran.

After the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran at the end of February, organizations operating under the banner of the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq” launched drone and rocket strikes against US interests in the country.

In response, Washington carried out attacks on bases to those groups, including Kataib Hezbollah. The strikes killed dozens of members.

Since assuming office in mid-May, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has stated that weapons should be limited to state control.

In a statement Saturday, Kataib Hezbollah security chief Abu Mujahid al-Assaf said that “jihadist action is today a collective duty” and added that the group would undertake it on behalf of factions that had chosen to stop.

While factions have shown a willingness to operate within state institutions, others, including Kataib Hezbollah, have rejected on disarmament under US pressure.

Assaf indicated that Kataib Hezbollah could work alongside those groups and said it was ready to pay for weapons they no longer required.

He said the organization was prepared “to cooperate and play a constructive role” by overseeing the transfer and storage of weapons and by receiving specialized weapons, including cruise missiles, which he said lacked experts within state agencies.

Kataib Hezbollah maintains that it will not discuss its arsenal while foreign forces remain stationed in Iraq’s Kurdistan region as part of a US-led coalition formed in 2014 to fight jihadists.

The coalition is due to conclude its mission in the Kurdistan region by September.

Earlier this month, a US State Department official called on Iraq to take “concrete actions” regarding pro-Iran armed groups.

The official made support conditional on “expelling militias from any state institution” and ending payments to them.

Separately, Influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr orders Saraya al-Salam militias to integrate into Iraqi state.

Sadr announced Wednesday that he was cutting ties between his Sadrist movement and its armed wing, Saraya al-Salam. He said the Shiite militia fighters would be placed under state authority.

The move aligns with broader Iraqi and international efforts to limit weapons to government control.

(With files from AFP | Agencies)