Iran-backed paramilitaries were moments from attacking Iraqi security forces. Only a last-minute deal with Iraq's new prime minister avoided bloodshed
The commander of the 17th Iraqi Army Division in southern Baghdad had received “secret and immediate” cables like this before.
Iraq’s crack Counter-Terrorism Squad (CTS) would be conducting an “emergency and special” operation on Thursday in the Sunni majority district of Dora to arrest a wanted person. Usually this meant a raid on Islamic State (IS) group suspects and the like.
Instead, the commander was shocked to learn, the target was a headquarters of the most powerful and ferocious Iran-backed Shia armed faction, Kataeb Hezbollah.
Kataeb Hezbollah’s unassuming Dora headquarters is located in a wooded rural area of the al-Bouaitha suburbs, once a stronghold of the 2003-2007 Sunni insurgency.
It is composed of two simple adjacent houses, each consisting of one floor. Both are located on the bank of the Tigris River, about 75 metres away from the nearest building.
The unregistered base, which looks abandoned and uninhabited from outside, is surrounded by an iron sheet fence more than two metres high.
Although the cable, which was seen by Middle East Eye, said the mission would start at 5am, the assigned force, which consisted of 120 combatants and 20 military Humvees, pulled up in front of the buildings at 4.30am after rolling down a series of dirt roads.
The mission lasted no more than 17 minutes. It ended without any resistance and resulted in the arrest of 13 Kataeb Hezbollah fighters. Twenty-three Katyusha rockets, three Russian-made Dragonov sniper rifles and 10 Russian-made AKM assault rifles were seized, in addition to one missile launcher, a CTS officer involved in the raid told MEE.
"They were asleep and did not notice our arrival, just as their sources did not know our exact destination and did not have enough time to alert them,” the officer said.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement on Friday that the operation was based on "accurate intelligence" on people who “had previously targeted the Green Zone and Baghdad International Airport with indirect fire several times”.
According to the intelligence, the suspects were hatching fresh plans to carry out more rocket strikes against government targets in the Green Zone, Baghdad’s heavily fortified governmental and diplomatic district.
Immediately, the raid enflamed tensions between Iranian-backed Shia factions and the government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
The operation, described as pre-emptive, has been labelled by the government as an attempt to "preserve the prestige of the state" by stopping the near-daily missile attacks that have plagued the US embassy and military bases hosting American troops for months.
Observers, however, wonder if it will in fact have the opposite effect, and raised questions about Kadhimi’s seriousness about tackling his country’s semi-official armed factions. Were violent reactions to erupt, it is not clear that Kadhimi’s government could weather such a storm, as it grapples with a financial crisis and escalating coronavirus cases.
Kadhimi has been facing great pressure from several parties, including the US and Kataeb Hezbollah, as both sides push to maintain their influence,” a prominent Shia politician close to Kadhimi told MEE, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A fresh round of talks next month between Iraq and the US reviewing the nature of the two countries’ security and military relationship, as well as the sanctions waivers Washington allows Baghdad in its dealings with Iran, mean the stakes are high.
According to the politician, “Kataeb has increased the rate of their missile attacks on American sites in Iraq recently to embarrass Kadhimi, while the Iraqi government is obliged to protect these sites before the second round of the US-Iraqi dialogue comes in July."
He added that: “Kadhimi desperately needs the Americans to help him out of the stifling financial crisis he faces with the least losses, and convince the international community to back Iraq after the previous government lost its support... So the timing is fatal, and Kadhimi does not have many options, especially since Kataeb no longer listens to the orders of Iran and has started working on its own.”
The evening after the raid, Hadi al-Amiri, commander of the Badr Organisation, the biggest Iran-backed Shia armed faction in Iraq, called for an emergency meeting at his home.
Present were the leaders of Kataeb Hezbollah, former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and Faleh al-Fayyad, head of the Popular Mobilisation Authority (PMA) paramilitary umbrella group.
They were gathered, a PMA commander familiar with the details of the meeting told MEE, "to discuss the latest developments and try to contain the crisis".
The Kataeb Hezbollah commanders asked Fayyad to convey a message to Kadhimi that “if the detainees were not released immediately, they would embarrass him regionally”, the source said.
Kadhimi’s response came before the meeting had even broken up, and it was as direct as it was swift: he refused.
Immediately, dozens of government vehicles loaded with fighters and weapons led by Abu Fadak, a Kataeb Hezbollah commander who is currently chief of the PMA’s forces, left a base in the Green Zone and fanned out around a nearby CTS station.
Another force of similar size headed from elsewhere in the city towards the Green Zone, but quick closure of the district’s entrances prevented them from entering. Instead, the fighters positioned themselves at two of the area’s gates.
"The aim was to storm the CTS headquarters and take a number of its fighters as hostages until the detainees are released,” the commander said. But the counter-raid never took place.
Instead, Amiri, Maliki and Fayyad managed to reach a settlement with Kadhimi, in which the detainees would be handed to the PMA’s security directorate, with the decision to release them or not left to the judiciary.
The two forces did not receive orders to withdraw until 5am on Friday, when the procedures to hand over all detainees to the PMA security directorate were completed.
On Monday evening, a judge decided to release 10 of the detainees "due to insufficient evidence" and the continued imprisonment of three others, whose fingerprint matched those found in investigations into previous rocket attacks on the Green Zone, at least three PMA commanders told MEE.
Two more have now been released, according to government spokesman Ahmed Al-Mulla Talal, leaving only the Kataeb Hezbollah commander the CTS had targeted in the first place.
Security officials and observers believe the lack of violence could indicate that Kataeb Hezbollah is somewhat more isolated than it has been before.
A leadership vacuum across the Iran-backed armed factions and within Kataeb Hezbollah has been apparent since the US killing of the faction’s leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January.
Meanwhile, Iran’s recent tendency to seek ways to calm relations with Washington and explicit instructions to stop attacks on US interests in Iraq has left Kataeb Hezbollah a relative outlier with its continued rocket launches.
There are no guarantees that Kadhimi will succeed in his endeavour to curb their activities, however, or that the other armed and political factions will remain content to watch things play out.
"The operation was an ear pinch for Kataeb, to restrain them and break their prestige,” a prominent paramilitary commander told MEE.
“It is also an attempt to feel the pulse of the rest of the [pro-Iran armed] factions to find out their reactions and to what extent Kadhimi can push them back before they violently respond,” he added.
“Kadhimi has no choice but to complete what he started, but he must be smart and avoid any direct confrontation, otherwise we all will become prisoners of endless chaos.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The commander of the 17th Iraqi Army Division in southern Baghdad had received “secret and immediate” cables like this before.
Iraq’s crack Counter-Terrorism Squad (CTS) would be conducting an “emergency and special” operation on Thursday in the Sunni majority district of Dora to arrest a wanted person. Usually this meant a raid on Islamic State (IS) group suspects and the like.
Instead, the commander was shocked to learn, the target was a headquarters of the most powerful and ferocious Iran-backed Shia armed faction, Kataeb Hezbollah.
Kataeb Hezbollah’s unassuming Dora headquarters is located in a wooded rural area of the al-Bouaitha suburbs, once a stronghold of the 2003-2007 Sunni insurgency.
It is composed of two simple adjacent houses, each consisting of one floor. Both are located on the bank of the Tigris River, about 75 metres away from the nearest building.
The unregistered base, which looks abandoned and uninhabited from outside, is surrounded by an iron sheet fence more than two metres high.
Although the cable, which was seen by Middle East Eye, said the mission would start at 5am, the assigned force, which consisted of 120 combatants and 20 military Humvees, pulled up in front of the buildings at 4.30am after rolling down a series of dirt roads.
The mission lasted no more than 17 minutes. It ended without any resistance and resulted in the arrest of 13 Kataeb Hezbollah fighters. Twenty-three Katyusha rockets, three Russian-made Dragonov sniper rifles and 10 Russian-made AKM assault rifles were seized, in addition to one missile launcher, a CTS officer involved in the raid told MEE.
"They were asleep and did not notice our arrival, just as their sources did not know our exact destination and did not have enough time to alert them,” the officer said.
The Iraqi Joint Operations Command said in a statement on Friday that the operation was based on "accurate intelligence" on people who “had previously targeted the Green Zone and Baghdad International Airport with indirect fire several times”.
According to the intelligence, the suspects were hatching fresh plans to carry out more rocket strikes against government targets in the Green Zone, Baghdad’s heavily fortified governmental and diplomatic district.
Enflaming tensions
Immediately, the raid enflamed tensions between Iranian-backed Shia factions and the government of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.
The operation, described as pre-emptive, has been labelled by the government as an attempt to "preserve the prestige of the state" by stopping the near-daily missile attacks that have plagued the US embassy and military bases hosting American troops for months.
Observers, however, wonder if it will in fact have the opposite effect, and raised questions about Kadhimi’s seriousness about tackling his country’s semi-official armed factions. Were violent reactions to erupt, it is not clear that Kadhimi’s government could weather such a storm, as it grapples with a financial crisis and escalating coronavirus cases.
Kadhimi has been facing great pressure from several parties, including the US and Kataeb Hezbollah, as both sides push to maintain their influence,” a prominent Shia politician close to Kadhimi told MEE, speaking on condition of anonymity.
A fresh round of talks next month between Iraq and the US reviewing the nature of the two countries’ security and military relationship, as well as the sanctions waivers Washington allows Baghdad in its dealings with Iran, mean the stakes are high.
According to the politician, “Kataeb has increased the rate of their missile attacks on American sites in Iraq recently to embarrass Kadhimi, while the Iraqi government is obliged to protect these sites before the second round of the US-Iraqi dialogue comes in July."
He added that: “Kadhimi desperately needs the Americans to help him out of the stifling financial crisis he faces with the least losses, and convince the international community to back Iraq after the previous government lost its support... So the timing is fatal, and Kadhimi does not have many options, especially since Kataeb no longer listens to the orders of Iran and has started working on its own.”
Moments from bloodshed
The evening after the raid, Hadi al-Amiri, commander of the Badr Organisation, the biggest Iran-backed Shia armed faction in Iraq, called for an emergency meeting at his home.
Present were the leaders of Kataeb Hezbollah, former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, and Faleh al-Fayyad, head of the Popular Mobilisation Authority (PMA) paramilitary umbrella group.
They were gathered, a PMA commander familiar with the details of the meeting told MEE, "to discuss the latest developments and try to contain the crisis".
The Kataeb Hezbollah commanders asked Fayyad to convey a message to Kadhimi that “if the detainees were not released immediately, they would embarrass him regionally”, the source said.
Kadhimi’s response came before the meeting had even broken up, and it was as direct as it was swift: he refused.
Immediately, dozens of government vehicles loaded with fighters and weapons led by Abu Fadak, a Kataeb Hezbollah commander who is currently chief of the PMA’s forces, left a base in the Green Zone and fanned out around a nearby CTS station.
Another force of similar size headed from elsewhere in the city towards the Green Zone, but quick closure of the district’s entrances prevented them from entering. Instead, the fighters positioned themselves at two of the area’s gates.
"The aim was to storm the CTS headquarters and take a number of its fighters as hostages until the detainees are released,” the commander said. But the counter-raid never took place.
Instead, Amiri, Maliki and Fayyad managed to reach a settlement with Kadhimi, in which the detainees would be handed to the PMA’s security directorate, with the decision to release them or not left to the judiciary.
The two forces did not receive orders to withdraw until 5am on Friday, when the procedures to hand over all detainees to the PMA security directorate were completed.
On Monday evening, a judge decided to release 10 of the detainees "due to insufficient evidence" and the continued imprisonment of three others, whose fingerprint matched those found in investigations into previous rocket attacks on the Green Zone, at least three PMA commanders told MEE.
Two more have now been released, according to government spokesman Ahmed Al-Mulla Talal, leaving only the Kataeb Hezbollah commander the CTS had targeted in the first place.
No guarantees
Although most of Iraq’s Shia political forces and armed factions issued strongly worded condemnations in response to the raid, and have devoted all of their media resources to attacking Kadhimi and his government over the past few days, their reactions have so far been confined to the war of words.Security officials and observers believe the lack of violence could indicate that Kataeb Hezbollah is somewhat more isolated than it has been before.
A leadership vacuum across the Iran-backed armed factions and within Kataeb Hezbollah has been apparent since the US killing of the faction’s leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis and top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in January.
Meanwhile, Iran’s recent tendency to seek ways to calm relations with Washington and explicit instructions to stop attacks on US interests in Iraq has left Kataeb Hezbollah a relative outlier with its continued rocket launches.
There are no guarantees that Kadhimi will succeed in his endeavour to curb their activities, however, or that the other armed and political factions will remain content to watch things play out.
"The operation was an ear pinch for Kataeb, to restrain them and break their prestige,” a prominent paramilitary commander told MEE.
“It is also an attempt to feel the pulse of the rest of the [pro-Iran armed] factions to find out their reactions and to what extent Kadhimi can push them back before they violently respond,” he added.
“Kadhimi has no choice but to complete what he started, but he must be smart and avoid any direct confrontation, otherwise we all will become prisoners of endless chaos.”
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Today at 7:23 am by Rocky
» Governor of Baghdad: 20 projects will be included during the current year in the city of Nahrawan
Today at 7:20 am by Rocky
» More than $242 million in central bank sales today
Today at 7:17 am by Rocky
» Advisor: Sudanese is determined to close the displacement file
Today at 7:14 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The implementation of the 2023 budget witnessed a success that must be invested in
Today at 7:13 am by Rocky
» The Baghdad Council will decide on the nomination of the committees in the coming days
Today at 7:10 am by Rocky
» Al-Samarrai: The Sunni community is not in favor of removing American forces
Today at 7:08 am by Rocky
» A warning from Al-Rasheed to those wishing to apply for advances and loans
Today at 7:06 am by Rocky
» Azerbaijan expresses its desire to participate in the implementation of joint projects in the oil an
Today at 7:05 am by Rocky
» Fuel cards arouse citizens' discontent
Today at 7:03 am by Rocky
» utube 3/18/24 MM&C Iraqi Dinar-- IQD-- Dinar Update -100% Electronic - Real Effective Exchange Rat
Today at 5:21 am by Rocky
» utube MM&C 3/16/24 0:05 / 18:16 Iraq Federal Court Brings - Strength to Financial - Politic
Today at 5:18 am by Rocky
» MM&C 3/18/24 Sudanese Advisor: Iraq will leave government monetary dealing in mid-2024
Today at 5:17 am by Rocky
» A delegation from the Kurdistan government visits Baghdad to discuss the issue of localization of sa
Today at 5:11 am by Rocky
» Director of the Central Oil Company: We are keen to provide the appropriate investment environment
Today at 5:10 am by Rocky
» The Energy Parliament calls for reporting generators violating government pricing
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» A representative reveals the fate of the laws of “previous sessions”
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Politician: Coordination holds the keys to resolving the “Parliament Presidency” conflict
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq wants to carry out its peaceful activity in the field of atomic energy
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Including a minister and a parliamentarian... 38 arrest and recruitment orders were issued against t
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» Integrity: Citizens’ cooperation resulted in detecting inflation and returning state funds
Today at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Agriculture presents 97 projects to the Ministerial Council for the Economy
Today at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: We succeeded in implementing the 2023 budget, and we must continue to complete economic p
Today at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Labor adopts new mechanisms to reduce the phenomenon of begging
Today at 4:57 am by Rocky
» Electronically.. directing the collection of fees tomorrow in an Iraqi governorate
Today at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Held in Brussels.. Iraq receives an official invitation to attend the Nuclear Energy Summit
Today at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Kurdistan has been paralyzed. There has been no liquidity in hand for 50 days, and the truth has bee
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» The dollar continues to decline against the Iraqi dinar on the stock exchange and exchange offices
Today at 4:52 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Oil reveals the reasons for Shell’s withdrawal from Nebras: It will be divided into
Today at 4:51 am by Rocky
» The Housing Fund advises loan applicants and launches a link for inquiries
Today at 4:50 am by Rocky
» He stressed that the government’s vision is to make one class not exceed 25 students...Government me
Today at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Al-Hakim and Al-Halbousi stress the importance of choosing a speaker for Parliament in accordance wi
Today at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Iron and Steel Company: Iraq is on the verge of a major industrial revolution
Today at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Economists: Citizens still prefer cash transactions over electronic transactions
Today at 4:45 am by Rocky
» The compass of Iraq's foreign policy in a world of turbulent polarization
Today at 4:43 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance: The federal budget is in the corridors of the Council of Ministers, and there
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Integrity calls on citizens to report the inflation of funds in the sector of the Ministry of Labor
Today at 4:40 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani directs the launch of initiatives for young businessmen and investors
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Representative agriculture emphasizes taking supportive measures for the local product
Today at 4:37 am by Rocky
» An economist calls on the government to support and stimulate the private sector
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Al-Ittihad: Employees and retirees in Kurdistan paid the price of political differences with Baghdad
Today at 4:34 am by Rocky
» Al-Samarrai and Al-Hakim discuss the importance of achieving political and constitutional entitlemen
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Only 23 million dunums. Iraq exploits approximately 50% of its arable land
Today at 4:30 am by Rocky
» Türkiye considers it a political issue.. Where have the negotiations reached regarding Iraq’s water
Today at 4:29 am by Rocky
» Sudanese receives an invitation to attend the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels - Urgent
Today at 4:27 am by Rocky
» Central Bank sales exceed $240 million today
Yesterday at 6:52 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance calls on the government to expedite sending the 2024 budget to Parliament
Yesterday at 6:47 am by Rocky
» ‘We’re So Sick of It’: Northern Border Crisis Gets Worse
Yesterday at 6:35 am by Bama Diva
» A representative holds Kurdistan responsible for the faltering legislation of the oil and gas law
Yesterday at 5:27 am by Rocky
» Warnings of the danger of the increase in foreign labor in Iraq
Yesterday at 5:26 am by Rocky
» Iraq's oil exports to America decreased within a week
Yesterday at 5:25 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani chairs an “important” meeting to form the Kirkuk government
Yesterday at 5:23 am by Rocky
» Investment confirms the adoption of a new method in new residential cities and explains its details
Yesterday at 5:21 am by Rocky
» For the first time in 2024.. exchange rates fall to the threshold of 149 thousand in Baghdad
Yesterday at 5:19 am by Rocky
» Including gold.. An increase in exports of 3 Turkish products to Iraq during 2024
Yesterday at 5:18 am by Rocky
» A detailed integrity report regarding the Housing Fund... called for this matter
Yesterday at 5:17 am by Rocky
» Resources count the number of trespassers in Baghdad.. What about restaurants?
Yesterday at 5:16 am by Rocky
» At a cost of approximately two billion dinars... determining the completion rates achieved in the Ma
Yesterday at 5:15 am by Rocky
» Parliament awaits the “Cabinet of Ministers” law
Yesterday at 5:14 am by Rocky
» Provincial councils return after an absence with a heavy legacy
Yesterday at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Iraq is the axis and meeting point of East and West
Yesterday at 5:11 am by Rocky
» One million beneficiaries of health insurance early next May
Yesterday at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance: Delaying the budget had a negative impact on the performance of the ministrie
Yesterday at 5:09 am by Rocky
» The chaos of urban expansion threatens the agricultural character of Diwaniyah
Yesterday at 5:08 am by Rocky
» A project to plant Japanese trees in Erbil
Yesterday at 5:07 am by Rocky
» A team to prepare the national strategy for national security in Kirkuk
Yesterday at 5:06 am by Rocky
» Next Tuesday...concluding a contract to expand the basic design of the city of Mosul
Yesterday at 5:04 am by Rocky
» A festival to reduce food prices in Mosul
Yesterday at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Technical committees between Baghdad and Erbil to resume oil exports through Türkiye
Yesterday at 5:02 am by Rocky
» A model of economic diversification
Yesterday at 5:01 am by Rocky
» Variation in the extent to which Iraq was affected by the decision to reduce the credit rating of {T
Yesterday at 5:00 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq has made a commitment to receive the entire security file from the Ministry of Inter
Yesterday at 4:58 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic stresses the important role of Mr. Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim in the first st
Yesterday at 4:56 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Center for Combating Rumors warns against social media celebrities misleading their follow
Yesterday at 4:54 am by Rocky
» Integrity investigates the work of the Housing Fund and indicates debts worth 56 billion dinars
Yesterday at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Agricultural associations in Karbala welcome the provincial council’s decision to prevent the fragme
Yesterday at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Free education lecturers demand that they be given job opportunities and contracts in Kirkuk
Yesterday at 4:51 am by Rocky
» The Digital Media Center calls for not browsing links published on a government page
Yesterday at 4:50 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic confirms the strength of relations between Iraq and Italy
Yesterday at 4:48 am by Rocky
» A decline in Iraq's oil exports to America during the past week
Yesterday at 4:47 am by Rocky
» Economic researcher for / NINA /: Iraqi youth are qualified for the labor market and relying on them
Yesterday at 4:46 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Planning is following up on the Statistics Authority’s preparations to conduct the g
Yesterday at 4:45 am by Rocky
» 5 days after sending the money and the Kurdistan government has not paid the salaries...a political
Yesterday at 4:44 am by Rocky
» A political reading about Sudanese political concern.. Amending the election law is one of the attem
Yesterday at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani to the Baghdad government: Pay attention to the outskirts of the capital, and drainage mus
Yesterday at 4:41 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi dinar recovers against the dollar in local markets
Yesterday at 4:39 am by Rocky
» Investment provides a summary of Bismaya units... and the new cities have “fixed prices” for the fir
Yesterday at 4:38 am by Rocky
» “Hidden commissions” on electronic fuel cards, contrary to what is advertised.. To whom does 100 mil
Yesterday at 4:37 am by Rocky
» Al-Hasnawi: The government is continuing to accelerate the completion and opening of lagging health
Yesterday at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Oil: The gasoline import file will be closed early next year
Yesterday at 4:35 am by Rocky
» “My account or your account”... a new problem behind the delay in the salaries of the region’s emplo
Yesterday at 4:34 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: Iraq is about to host important events and conferences
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» In Erdogan's visit to Iraq...the path of development in exchange for water
Yesterday at 4:33 am by Rocky
» An American report on Washington’s seriousness in withdrawing from Iraq: Biden does not want to lose
Yesterday at 4:30 am by Rocky
» The organization is banned in Iraq.. Baghdad decides the fate of the Workers’ Party after 40 years o
Yesterday at 4:29 am by Rocky
» The rain exposes the poor quality of service projects and calls for the dismissal of officials and h
Yesterday at 4:28 am by Rocky
» Politician: Ankara needs Baghdad economically, and the path of development is Iraq’s trump card
Yesterday at 4:26 am by Rocky
» Economic calls to adopt a new philosophy for implementing strategic projects
Yesterday at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki: My alliance with Al-Sadr is possible, and the movement’s distance from it is an unhealthy
Yesterday at 4:23 am by Rocky