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Who was Abu Taqwa, killed in US Strike in Baghdad?

Supporters of Harakat al Nujaba group in Iraq carry a picture of Abu Taqwa Al-Saedi during his funeral procession in Baghdad on Thursday (AFP)
Supporters of Harakat al Nujaba group in Iraq carry a picture of Abu Taqwa Al-Saedi during his funeral procession in Baghdad on Thursday (AFP)
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Who was Abu Taqwa, killed in US Strike in Baghdad?

Supporters of Harakat al Nujaba group in Iraq carry a picture of Abu Taqwa Al-Saedi during his funeral procession in Baghdad on Thursday (AFP)
Supporters of Harakat al Nujaba group in Iraq carry a picture of Abu Taqwa Al-Saedi during his funeral procession in Baghdad on Thursday (AFP)

In Iraq, Abu Taqwa Al-Saedi, leader of the “Rocket Battalion” within the Harakat al Nujaba group, was killed in a US attack on their Baghdad headquarters.

Al-Saedi’s battalion has been unusually active since the beginning of war in Gaza, operating between Iraqi cities and Syria.

According to a statement issued by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), which Harakat al Nujaba group is a part of, Al-Saedi also served as the “Deputy Commander of the Operations for the Baghdad Belt,” referring to the agricultural areas surrounding the capital.

The Harakat al Nujaba, close to Tehran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, lacks parliamentary representation in Iraq but wields significant influence over the government’s coordinating framework.

Al-Saedi, also the commander of the PMF’s 12th Brigade, was targeted by four US drone strikes as his convoy moved in eastern Baghdad’s Palestine Street area on Thursday morning.

The US drone tracked Al-Saedi’s convoy from the Syrian border until it reached Baghdad, executing the operation finally within the security headquarters near the Iraqi Ministry of Interior.

The US military confirmed staging an attack on an armed faction’s headquarters in Baghdad, targeting an individual responsible for attacks against military bases in the country.

Al-Saedi’s full name is Mushtaq Talib Al-Saedi, known by his alias “Abu Taqwa.”

He hails from a modest family residing in “Al-Kamaliya” neighborhood, one of the populous districts to the east of Baghdad.

However, his family roots trace back to Diyala Province in the east of Iraq.

Sources close to Al-Saedi, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat under the conditions of anonymity, reveal that he was an active member of the Sadr movement led by Muqtada Al-Sadr before being arrested by US forces between 2007 and 2012.

Al-Saedi later broke away from the Sadr movement to join the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq movement led by Qais Al-Khazali, only to defect again and align himself with Harakat al Nujaba.

Al-Saedi, as per the sources, agreed to a deal proposed by a high-ranking Iraqi official, which included the condition of “defecting from the Sadr movement in exchange for assistance from the Americans in securing his release.”

Since joining the Harakat al Nujaba, Al-Saedi has held pivotal positions directly related to the management and planning of military operations, particularly targeting the military bases occupied by the US-led International Coalition in Iraq and Syria.

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Fear Grips Alawites in Syria’s Homs as Assad ‘Remnants’ Targeted

A member of security forces reporting to Syria's interim government checks the identification of a motorist at a checkpoint in Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
A member of security forces reporting to Syria's interim government checks the identification of a motorist at a checkpoint in Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
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Fear Grips Alawites in Syria’s Homs as Assad ‘Remnants’ Targeted

A member of security forces reporting to Syria's interim government checks the identification of a motorist at a checkpoint in Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (AFP)
A member of security forces reporting to Syria's interim government checks the identification of a motorist at a checkpoint in Homs in west-central Syria on January 8, 2025. (AFP)

In Syria's third city Homs, members of ousted president Bashar al-Assad's Alawite community say they are terrified as new authorities comb their districts for "remnants of the regime", arresting hundreds.

In central Homs, the marketplace buzzes with people buying fruit and vegetables from vendors in bombed-out buildings riddled with bullet holes.

But at the entrance to areas where the city's Alawite minority lives, armed men in fatigues have set up roadblocks and checkpoints.

People in one such neighborhood, speaking anonymously to AFP for fear of reprisals, said young men had been taken away, including soldiers and conscripts who had surrendered their weapons as instructed by the new led authorities.

Two of them said armed men stationed at one checkpoint, since dismantled after complaints, had been questioning people about the religious sect.

"We have been living in fear," said a resident of the Alawite-majority Zahra district.

"At first, they spoke of isolated incidents. But there is nothing isolated about so many of them."

- 'Majority are civilians' -

Since opposition factions led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group seized power on December 8, Syria's new leadership has repeatedly sought to reassure minorities they will not be harmed.

But Alawites fear a backlash against their sect, long associated with the Assads.

The new authorities deny wrongdoing, saying they are after former Assad forces.

Shihadi Mayhoub, a former lawmaker from Homs, said he had been documenting alleged violations in Zahra.

"So far, I have about 600 names of arrested people" in Zahra, out of more than 1,380 in the whole of Homs city, he told AFP.

Among those detained are "retired brigadiers, colonels who settled their affairs in dedicated centers, lieutenants and majors".

But "the majority are civilians and conscripted soldiers," he said.

In the district of Al-Sabil, a group of officers were beaten in front of their wives, he added.

Authorities in Homs have been responsive to residents' pleas and promised to release the detained soon, Mayhoub said, adding groups allied to the new rulers were behind the violations.

Another man in Zahra told AFP he had not heard from his son, a soldier, since he was arrested at a checkpoint in the neighboring province of Hama last week.

- 'Anger' -

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor says at least 1,800 people, overwhelmingly Alawites, have been detained in Homs city and the wider province.

Across Syria, violence against Alawites has surged, with the Britain-based Observatory recording at least 150 killings, mostly in Homs and Hama provinces.

Early in the civil war, sparked by a crackdown on democracy protests in 2011, Homs was dubbed the "capital of the revolution" by activists who dreamt of a Syria free from Assad's rule.

The crackdown was especially brutal in Homs, home to a sizeable Alawite minority, as districts were besieged and fighting ravaged its historical center, where the bloodiest sectarian violence occurred.

Today, videos circulating online show gunmen rounding up men in Homs. AFP could not verify all the videos but spoke to Mahmud Abu Ali, an HTS member from Homs who filmed himself ordering the men.

He said the people in the video were accused of belonging to pro-Assad militias who "committed massacres" in Homs during the war.

"I wanted to relieve the anger I felt on behalf of all those people killed," the 21-year-old said, adding the dead included his parents and siblings.

- 'Tired of war' -

Abu Yusuf, an HTS official involved in security sweeps, said forces had found three weapons depots and "dozens of wanted people".

Authorities said the five-day operation ended Monday, but Abu Yusuf said searches were ongoing as districts "have still not been completely cleansed of regime remnants".

"We want security and safety for all: Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, everyone," he said, denying reports of violations.

Homs lay in ruins for years after the former regime retook full control.

In Baba Amr neighborhood, an opposition bastion retaken in 2012, buildings have collapsed from bombardment or bear bullet marks, with debris still clogging streets.

After fleeing to Lebanon more than a decade ago, Fayez al-Jammal, 46, returned this week with his wife and seven children to a devastated home without doors, furniture or windows.

He pointed to the ruined buildings where neighbors were killed or disappeared, but said revenge was far from his mind.

"We are tired of war and humiliation. We just want everyone to be able to live their lives," he said.