Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah Says It Suspends Attacks on US Forces 

Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)
Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)
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Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah Says It Suspends Attacks on US Forces 

Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)
Kataib Hezbollah fighters are seen at the site of an American strike in Hillah, Iraq in December 2023. (Reuters)

Iran-aligned Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah announced on Tuesday the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region, in a decision aimed at preventing "embarrassment" of the Iraqi government, the group said.

"As we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces - in order to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government - we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways," Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement.

Three US troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border on Sunday that the Pentagon said bore the "footprints" of Kataib Hezbollah, though a final assessment had not yet been made.

A Pentagon spokesperson declined to comment on the group's statement, adding: "Actions speak louder than words."

The US has vowed to respond to the attack.

Iran-aligned groups, known collectively as the "Axis of Resistance", have been waging attacks against Israeli and US targets from Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and Syria, since their Palestinian ally Hamas and Israel went to war on Oct. 7.

Kataib Hezbollah is the most powerful faction in the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, an umbrella group of hardline Shiite armed factions that have claimed more than 150 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since the Gaza war began.

The US has responded with deadly strikes in a cycle of escalating violence that Iraqi officials said threatened to undo progress towards stabilizing the country after decades of conflict.

Kataib Hezbollah's decision followed days of intensive efforts by Iraq's prime minister to prevent a new escalation after the Jordan attack, his foreign affairs adviser Farhad Alaadin said.

"Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has been hard at work in the past few days, engaging with all relevant parties inside and outside Iraq," Alaadin said in an interview.

"All sides need to support the efforts of the Prime Minister to prevent any possible escalation," he added.

In its statement, Kataib Hezbollah also said there were disagreements with allies over its attacks, singling out Iran.

It said counterparts in the Axis of Resistance "often object to the pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria," the statement said.

Iran has denied involvement in attacks by Iraqi groups.

Founded in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah is one of the elite Iraqi armed factions closest to Iran.

Iraq's government is backed by parties and armed groups close to Iran, though not directly by the hardline groups that have been firing on US forces, Western and Iraqi officials say.

Baghdad has condemned the attacks while also saying regional escalation would continue as long as the Gaza war went on.



Building in Beirut Southern Suburbs Struck After Israeli Warning

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
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Building in Beirut Southern Suburbs Struck After Israeli Warning

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Dahieh in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A building in Beirut’s southern suburbs known as Dahieh was struck on Sunday almost an hour after the Israeli army issued an evacuation order to residents of the area.

The Israeli army's spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, earlier said on X that residents should evacuate several buildings in the Hadath neighborhood and move "at least 300 meters away.”

Residents reported hearing gunfire across the area, which they said they believed was intended to warn people to leave, as well as seeing a massive traffic jam on roads leading from the area.

"To everyone located in the building marked in red on the attached map, and the surrounding buildings: you are near facilities belonging to Hezbollah," Adraee wrote in a post that included a map of the potential targets.

The Israeli army said the building was being used to store precision missiles belonging to Hezbollah.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that Hezbollah's precision missiles "posed a significant threat to the State of Israel."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the United States and France, as guarantors of the ceasefire agreement struck in November, to compel Israel to stop its attacks.
"Israel's continued actions in undermining stability will exacerbate tensions and place the region at real risk, threatening its security and stability," he said in a statement.

Earlier this month an Israeli airstrike killed four people, including a Hezbollah official, in Beirut's southern suburbs -the second Israeli strike on a Hezbollah-controlled area of the Lebanese capital in five days.