Against the background of the assassination of "Troll" .. 7 armed factions formed by Tehran to confr

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[size=52]Against the background of the assassination of "Troll" .. 7 armed factions formed by Tehran to confront Washington in Iraq[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan
The case of the killing of the American activist Stephen Troll at the hands of unknown gunmen in central Baghdad revealed a Shiite-Shiite dispute due to the government's policy and the coordinating framework towards the United States.[/size]
[size=45]The coordinating framework believes that the first assassination against a foreign citizen in Iraq in years is a message to Muhammad al-Sudani, who began to get close to Washington.
The new dispute revealed an ancient history of the Shiite problem in the relationship with America, as this (the dispute) caused the formation of armed groups that worked against the opinion of the majority of Shiites.
These groups, believed to be "executing" or "facilitating" assassinations and bombing foreign interests and Iraqi camps, began their work in the past three years.
These groups, which often bear fictitious names, have carried out about 120 attacks in the last two and a half years.
During that period, these groups used about 300 missiles, explosive devices and a drone to attack Iraqi embassies, camps and airports.
These groups, which have come to be called "Katyusha cells", caused the closure and threat of 3 vital foreign and national joints, including consulates and F-16 operators.
The latest investigations into Troll's killing had concluded that Tehran was accused of the incident, but (the investigations) have not yet confirmed whether the perpetrators came from Iran or were inside.
The incident angered the coordination framework, according to information obtained by (Al-Mada) from informed sources, as the assassination was considered a "strike" of the new government's policy with the West.
Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani, in his first response to the incident, stressed that the security file is a red line, considering that the attempt to test the government is a failed option.
And Al-Sudani said during a press conference that followed the regular meeting of the government last Tuesday, that "the killing of an American citizen working for a relief and development organization is a cowardly crime."
He added, "From last night until now, our competent authorities are conducting investigations to uncover the circumstances of the accident."
Al-Sudani affirmed that he does not want to pre-empt events, and explained that the victim "has been in Iraq since 2021, and the timing of the crime raises question marks."
The Prime Minister stressed that "whoever wants to test the government on the issue of security, has entered a failed test because Iraq's security is a red line, and insulting the country and attacking resident foreign citizens is something that cannot be tolerated."
In addition, the US Ambassador, Alina Romanowski, thanked the Iraqi people for the "supportive messages" after Troil's killing.
"During these sad times, I extend my heartfelt thanks and gratitude to the Iraqi people for their messages of support following the brutal murder of Stephen Troll last night in Baghdad," Romansky said in a tweet.
The ambassador added, "Stephen was in Iraq in his private capacity, doing what he loves, which is working with the Iraqi people. My sincere condolences to his wife and young children."
According to informed sources, the prime minister began implementing the coordination framework agreement in building positive relations with the United States.
According to those sources, "Al-Sudani worked to improve the image of the framework while taking pledges from the factions not to target US interests in Iraq."
In return, Washington agreed to support the government, and set conditions for keeping sensitive security services, financial and oil links away from "factions close to Tehran."
A day before the assassination of the American citizen, the Minister of Finance, Taif Sami, had received the American ambassador at the ministry's headquarters in Baghdad.
A statement by the minister said that the US ambassador "congratulated the Minister of Finance on the occasion of assuming the duties of the ministry, and stressed the continued support of the United States government to the government and people of Iraq, and its aspiration to create wider spaces of partnership and cooperation between the two countries."
Romansky, the US ambassador, visited Muhammad al-Sudani three times in the past three weeks, and Anthony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, called the prime minister and confirmed the “commitment of both parties to the Strategic Framework Agreement” signed by Iraq and the United States.
The splintering of the factions
In light of those relations, the groups that call themselves resistance agreed to stop any escalation against the US presence in Iraq or to strike at embassies.
However, well-informed sources close to the coordination framework confirmed to Al-Mada, on condition that they not be identified, that "some groups were not satisfied with the decision to approach Washington."
Those sources indicated that "those groups have split more than once during the past three years because of attitudes toward the United States."
The sources explained that "these groups disagree with the opinion of the majority of Shiite forces, and after the liberation operations from ISIS ended, they began targeting US forces in implementation of Iranian agendas."
These groups were working without clear names, until after the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in early 2020, they started choosing fake names.
A group calling itself "Saraya Ashab al-Kahf" had claimed responsibility for the killing of the American citizen in Karrada.
And that group justified it in a statement that it was "in revenge for the killing of General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the (Quds Force), and Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis, the deputy head of the (Popular Mobilization Authority)."
The first group that had claimed an attack on the Green Zone in “Katyusha” was in May 2019, and called itself “Units of Martyr Ali Mansour al-Jubouri.”
This group claimed that it carried out the attack in retaliation for the decision of Trump (Donald Trump, the former US president), who at the time released an American soldier who killed Ali Mansour al-Jubouri while he was being held by American forces in 2008.
Prior to that, isolated incidents of bombing in Basra with “Katyusha” had caused the consulate to be closed. The United States was there in September 2018, after Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis accused the consulate of supporting the demonstrations in the south.
During the last six months of 2019, armed groups carried out 30 attacks with about 60 missiles.
These attacks were part of the escalation between Tehran and Washington, against the backdrop of the former's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz.
The bombardments at that time threatened the giant oil companies in Basra, and caused a number of them to leave work and then return.
In 2020, armed groups carried out 60 attacks with more than 100 missiles, while former Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi had complained more than once about the behavior of these groups.
And Abdul Mahdi had previously issued a famous Diwaniya order on the structure of the Popular Mobilization, and at that time information was leaked about a “rebellion” from some of the factions that refused to implement the order.
Striking the columns.. and the Yemeni method
In May of that year, the militants added a new method of attacks against foreign interests in Iraq.
They began targeting logistical support trucks working with US forces on the highways, and carried out about 50 attacks from that time to the middle of last year.
In 2021, it carried out 22 attacks with nearly 100 missiles and 8 marches. From the middle of that year, the groups began using the Yemeni method by sending booby-trapped planes.
The attacks that year caused the suspension of the work of the American companies that supervise the operation and repair of the F-16 aircraft, as the suspension of flights affected the efforts to combat ISIS.
In the middle of the same year, “Saraya Ashab al-Kahf” appeared for the first time, along with 6 new factions, as these groups began to use fictitious names for the first time.
The most prominent factions that emerged at the time after a new tactic by Ismail Qaani, Soleimani’s successor, who included the dissident factions from the Shiite consensus, are “The League of Revolutionaries, the 20th Revolution Brigades, Qist al-Huda, the Ansar al-Wilaya Movement, and the Feqar Resistance Forces.”
Throughout that period, Muqtada al-Sadr (leader of the Sadrist movement), Ammar al-Hakim (leader of wisdom), Hadi al-Amiri (leader of Badr), Haider al-Abadi (leader of victory), and to a lesser extent Qais Khazali (leader of Asa'ib) condemned the attacks on the camps, oil companies and embassies.
On the other hand, this year recorded the lowest rate of attacks, as the Green Zone was attacked 3 times, and about 5 marches were sent, most of them on areas in Erbil and the borders of Kurdistan.[/size]
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