Hashd al-Shaabi faction accuses US of 'weakening Iraq'

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – An Iranian-backed Hashd al-Shaabi faction on Monday accused the United States of leading campaigns to weaken Iraq and called on the Iraqi Commander-in-Chief “to endorse the structure and instructions” regarding the Shia militias.

During a press conference inside the Iraqi Parliament, Falih al-Khazali, an Iraqi Shia MP representing the Hashd al-Shaabi’s Sayyid al-Shuhada faction, blamed the US for leading media campaigns against the Hashd al-Shaabi with the aim of weakening Iraq.

“Lately, we have noticed US-led media campaigns targeting the Hashd al-Shaabi to implement its DDR [Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration] project in order to weaken Iraq,” the Shia MP said.

Khazali, who is a senior commander in the Sayyid al-Shuhada faction, asked Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi—also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces—to endorse the structure and instructions of the Shia militias prepared by the General Secretariat of the PM.

He urged the Iraqi Foreign Ministry “to take responsibility in preventing the US or any other country from targeting the Iraqi security forces including the Hashd al-Shaabi.”

The Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada militia has been supporting Syrian regime forces and has fought opposition forces in several areas, particularly in Aleppo and near Damascus. 

According to information shared on its website, the group has secretly been fighting against what they label the “US occupation of Iraq,” and claimed to have launched attacks on American troops before their withdrawal from the country in 2011.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany