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Iraq Security Forces Arrest Dozens of Kataib Hezbollah Members in Baghdad Raid

Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Services (CTS) members pictured in September 2018. (AFP)
Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Services (CTS) members pictured in September 2018. (AFP)
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Iraq Security Forces Arrest Dozens of Kataib Hezbollah Members in Baghdad Raid

Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Services (CTS) members pictured in September 2018. (AFP)
Iraqi Counter-Terrorism Services (CTS) members pictured in September 2018. (AFP)

Iraqi security forces raided a headquarters belonging to the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah militia in southern Baghdad late on Thursday, detaining dozens of its members, government officials and paramilitary sources said.

The raid was the most brazen action by Iraqi forces against a major Iran-backed militia group in years and targeted the faction, which US officials have accused of firing rockets at bases hosting US troops and other facilities in Iraq.

Iraqi government officials and paramilitary sources then gave contradicting versions of what followed.

The paramilitary sources and one government official said those detained were transferred shortly afterwards to the security branch of Iraq’s paramilitary umbrella grouping, the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

A second government official denied any such transfer and said the militiamen were still in the custody of other security services. The sources gave different numbers for those detained. A PMF official said it was 19. A government official said it was 23.

Fifty-three members of the group were arrested, reported Al Arabiya television on Friday morning.

The raid was the first sign that the government of new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, intends to make good on pledges to take tough action against militia groups that have targeted US installations.

It took place after a number of rocket attacks near the US embassy in Baghdad and other US military sites in the country in recent weeks.

But the incident also highlighted how difficult it could be to take on the militias. A senior PMF official said after some negotiation, those detained were handed over to paramilitary security forces, reported Reuters.

One government official told Reuters three commanders of Kataib Hezbollah had been detained during the raid, carried out by Iraq’s elite Counter Terrorism Service. One of those commanders was an Iranian, he said.

A second PMF official said no commanders of Kataib Hezbollah were detained.

A spokesman for the US-led coalition in Iraq and Iraqi paramilitary sources denied any of those detained had been handed over to the US military, after a government official said three had been.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran especially on Iraqi soil have been high for at least a year.

It nearly spilled into regional conflict in January after the United States killed Iran’s military mastermind Qassem Soleimani and PMF deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis in a drone strike at Baghdad airport.

Both Tehran and Washington supported Kadhimi in becoming prime minister in May.

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Arab World

UN Force in Lebanon Says Peacekeepers Fired Upon ‘Likely by Non-State Armed Groups’

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
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UN Force in Lebanon Says Peacekeepers Fired Upon ‘Likely by Non-State Armed Groups’

United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)
United Nations peacekeepers with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) drive past a destroyed healthcare center building in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalawiya on March 14, 2026. (AFP)

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said its peacekeepers were fired upon three times on Sunday, "likely by non-state armed groups" in the country's south.

The incident came two days after a different UN position was hit by fire that official Lebanese media blamed on Israel, with UNIFIL saying it was investigating.

"Today, UNIFIL peacekeepers were fired upon, likely by non-state armed groups, on three separate occasions while conducting patrols around their bases" in south Lebanon, the force said in a statement.

In one of the locations, the fire struck "as close as five meters from the peacekeepers", it added.

"Two patrols returned fire in self-defense and after brief exchanges, the patrols resumed their planned activities. No peacekeeper was injured," the statement said.

"We strongly remind all actors of their obligations under international law to ensure the safety and security of UN personnel at all times."

Lebanon was drawn into the broader Middle East war on March 2, when the Tehran-backed group Hezbollah attacked Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

Israel has since launched waves of air strikes on its northern neighbor and deployed troop into border areas, while Hezbollah has launched rockets and missiles towards Israeli territory and troops.

Lebanese state media said that Israeli fire hit a UNIFIL base in southern Lebanon on Friday.

UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said the position was hit "likely by heavy machine gun fire", without identifying the source, and said an investigation had been launched into the incident, which left one peacekeeper lightly wounded.

Earlier this month, three peacekeepers serving with a Ghanaian contingent were wounded in south Lebanon, with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accusing Israel of being responsible and UNIFIL saying it would investigate.

On Saturday, during a visit to Beirut, UN chief Antonio Guterres said attacks against peacekeepers and their positions were "completely unacceptable and... may constitute war crimes".

UNIFIL has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978. Its mission concludes at the end of this year.

Arab World

WHO Releases $2 Million in Emergency Funds to Lebanon, Iraq and Syria

A child poses for a photo, at a school hosting displaced people, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Lebaa, Lebanon, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A child poses for a photo, at a school hosting displaced people, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Lebaa, Lebanon, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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WHO Releases $2 Million in Emergency Funds to Lebanon, Iraq and Syria

A child poses for a photo, at a school hosting displaced people, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Lebaa, Lebanon, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
A child poses for a photo, at a school hosting displaced people, following an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Lebaa, Lebanon, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)

The World ‌Health Organization said on Sunday it had released $2 million from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to support the health response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria amidst the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.

The conflict has triggered a large-scale population movement, the WHO ‌said last week, ‌estimating that more ‌than 100,000 ⁠people in Iran ⁠have relocated, and up to 700,000 people in Lebanon have been internally displaced.

$1 million has been allocated to Lebanon to strengthen the WHO's emergency coordination ⁠through the Public Health Emergency Operations ‌Center, scale ‌up trauma care, reinforce disease surveillance, ‌and procure and distribute essential ‌medicines and medical supplies, the agency said in a statement.

Iraq and Syria have each been allocated $500,000 to support emergency ‌coordination and mass-casualty management, procure and distribute essential medicines ⁠and ⁠supplies, provide health services for displaced populations, and strengthen disease surveillance and community outreach, it added.

"At a time when health services are already facing significant challenges, support is essential to sustain frontline health workers and maintain critical care services," Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean said.

Arab World

In Heavy Rain, Lebanese Fleeing War Huddle Under Makeshift Shelters

A man secures a tent at sunset at a public space where people displaced by Israeli airstrikes have set up tents along the Beirut waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)
A man secures a tent at sunset at a public space where people displaced by Israeli airstrikes have set up tents along the Beirut waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)
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In Heavy Rain, Lebanese Fleeing War Huddle Under Makeshift Shelters

A man secures a tent at sunset at a public space where people displaced by Israeli airstrikes have set up tents along the Beirut waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)
A man secures a tent at sunset at a public space where people displaced by Israeli airstrikes have set up tents along the Beirut waterfront in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP)

Hussein Murtada and his ‌family are camping in the back of a small truck, a flimsy tarpaulin shielding them from a storm on Sunday, with no room left at shelters for displaced people in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon.

"We are putting tarp over it because we're soaked," said Murtada, using string to fasten the plastic sheet over the back of the truck parked on the seafront. Inside, an infant peered out, surrounded by pillows, blankets and other possessions.

"I asked here at the schools and they are full, they're all full," said Murtada, who fled the town of Hanawiya, some 12 km (8 miles) ‌from the ‌border with Israel, with his family of seven.

"What ‌should ⁠I ask for? ⁠I just want a shelter for me and the children," Murtada added.

More than 800,000 people, around 15% of Lebanon's population, have had to flee their homes since Israel began an offensive in the country after the Lebanese Hezbollah group opened fire at Israel in support of its ally Iran on March 2.

It has dragged Lebanon into the Middle East conflict just 15 months ⁠since the last Israel-Hezbollah war.

Only a fraction of ‌the displaced - some 132,000 according to Lebanese ‌authorities - are in collective shelters. The rest are scattered elsewhere, some with relatives, others ‌in half-finished buildings or host communities and many in the streets.

Mohammad Marie, ‌who fled the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, has been sheltering under a tree on Beirut's seafront Corniche, protected by a plastic sheet before it was blown away.

"It might keep raining for a week, so where will I go? ‌I will stay here, what else can I do? I have no shelter except here, under this tree," ⁠Marie said, his ⁠clothes soaked through.

"I don't have a tent, I don't have anything, and my financial situation is very difficult. I have no money to rent a house," he said.

The United Nations launched a $308 million flash appeal on Friday to help Lebanon cope with the fallout of the war.

Israeli attacks have killed 850 people and wounded more than 2,100 others in Lebanon since March 2, including 107 children and 66 women, the Lebanese health ministry said on Sunday. Its toll does not say how many of the casualties were combatants.

Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in southern Lebanon, while no fatalities have been reported in Israel as a result of Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks since March 2.