Iran-Backed Militias Threaten Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq
Aug 11, 2021 19:01:38 GMT -5
Post by shalom on Aug 11, 2021 19:01:38 GMT -5
Iran-Backed Militias Threaten Attacks on U.S. Troops in Iraq
FRANCES MARTEL9 Aug 202147
5:24
A spokesman for a member militia of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a formal wing of the Iraqi military, warned on Sunday the U.S. would face “appropriate consequences” if it did not fully withdraw from the country in the near future.
The PMF are a coalition of mostly Shiite, Iran-backed militias that rose to prominence during war against the Islamic State “caliphate” in the country. As the Islamic State is a Sunni terrorist organization, the Shiite PMFs played a significant role in fighting against it and denying it geographical control in parts of Iraq where the Kurdish Peshmerga and other forces were not active. The Pentagon credited the PMF with helping ultimately liberate the “caliphate” in 2017.
For their actions, Baghdad formally legalized the PMF as a wing of the Iraqi armed forces in 2018.
While a formal wing of the Iraqi military as an umbrella organization, several PMF groups are U.S.-designated terrorist organizations and have long histories of human rights violations. Following the fall of ISIS, PMF fighters turned on Kurdish and Christian communities in Iraq and escalated threats against the United States.
Sheikh Kadhim al-Fartousi, a spokesman for the PMF group Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, told the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw on Sunday the militias did not accept President Joe Biden’s recent declaration that the United States had ended its “combat” mission in the country. Biden’s agreement with Baghdad, revealed in July, would see an end to the presence of American combat troops in Iraq but not of other kinds of military servicemen.
The White House made clear America would continue its ongoing mission against the Islamic State and its “advisory” tasks with the Iraqi government, also adding to confusion as to the real-world implications of Biden’s agreement.
Continued at link
FRANCES MARTEL9 Aug 202147
5:24
A spokesman for a member militia of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a formal wing of the Iraqi military, warned on Sunday the U.S. would face “appropriate consequences” if it did not fully withdraw from the country in the near future.
The PMF are a coalition of mostly Shiite, Iran-backed militias that rose to prominence during war against the Islamic State “caliphate” in the country. As the Islamic State is a Sunni terrorist organization, the Shiite PMFs played a significant role in fighting against it and denying it geographical control in parts of Iraq where the Kurdish Peshmerga and other forces were not active. The Pentagon credited the PMF with helping ultimately liberate the “caliphate” in 2017.
For their actions, Baghdad formally legalized the PMF as a wing of the Iraqi armed forces in 2018.
While a formal wing of the Iraqi military as an umbrella organization, several PMF groups are U.S.-designated terrorist organizations and have long histories of human rights violations. Following the fall of ISIS, PMF fighters turned on Kurdish and Christian communities in Iraq and escalated threats against the United States.
Sheikh Kadhim al-Fartousi, a spokesman for the PMF group Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, told the Kurdish news outlet Rudaw on Sunday the militias did not accept President Joe Biden’s recent declaration that the United States had ended its “combat” mission in the country. Biden’s agreement with Baghdad, revealed in July, would see an end to the presence of American combat troops in Iraq but not of other kinds of military servicemen.
The White House made clear America would continue its ongoing mission against the Islamic State and its “advisory” tasks with the Iraqi government, also adding to confusion as to the real-world implications of Biden’s agreement.
Continued at link