Tensions High in Baghdad after Raids against Kataib Hezbollah

Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)
Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)
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Tensions High in Baghdad after Raids against Kataib Hezbollah

Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)
Iraqi security forces stand guard near the gates of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq, March 31, 2016. (Reuters)

Tensions were high in the Iraqi capital Baghdad after security forces raided the headquarters of the pro-Iran Kataib Hezbollah faction, arresting 14 members, including an Iranian rockets expert.

Observers have speculated that the tensions will continue to rise between the government, which ordered the raid, and the armed factions that oppose Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi.

The raid was the most brazen action by Iraqi forces against a major Iran-backed militia in years. The Kataib Hezbollah group is accused by US officials accuse of firing rockets at bases hosting US troops and other facilities in Iraq.

It signaled that Kadhimi, whose government is negotiating Iraq’s security, political and economic ties with Washington, intends to fulfill pledges to rein in militia groups that have attacked US installations.

The move did not sit well with Qais Khazali, leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militant group, who “advised” Kadhimi against becoming involved in tensions between the factions and American forces.

In a televised address to the premier, he said that rocket attacks that targeted Baghdad airport and the Green Zone, which houses foreign embassies, was not directed against Iraq or Iraqis, but at “American targets.”

“Resistance factions have the right to resist occupiers according to state and religious laws,” he declared.

Moreover, he warned that the arrest of members of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilization Forces by the counter-terrorism units “will pave the way for widespread chaos”, describing the raid against the Kataib Hezbollah as a “dangerous precedent”.

“Neither the prime minister, nor anyone else can stand against the PMF members, who are demanding sovereignty. The counter-terrorism agency is a national agency that had fought alongside the PMF against terrorism. The issue should have been resolved with the PMF chief,” suggested Khazali, who boasts 15 lawmakers at parliament.

Observers said that Khazali’s statement has outlined the tensions between the government and the so-called “resistance axis” that is loyal to Iran.

Armed groups expert Hisham al-Hashemi told Asharq Al-Awsat that the “Katyusha cells” are affiliated with the resistance axis. These factions have undergone changes in recent months and have started to “rebel” against the state, he remarked.

They then started to challenge it and are now confronting it, he noted. The rebellion started at the beginning of the year after Washington killed Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and PMF deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis near Baghdad airport.

He revealed that the government raid on Friday aborted a planned attack with 23 rockets against the Green Zone.

He said the government’s operations will only temporarily deter the “Katyusha cells”, citing Khazali’s remarks that he will not allow anyone to thwart these factions.

Head of the Center for Political Thinking in Iraq, Ihssan Shmary warned that the Katyusha rocket attacks are a threat to Iraq’s national security and western interests in the country.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the attacks will negatively impact Iraq’s foreign image and undermine the PM’s efforts to limit the possession of arms in the country in the hands of the state.

“I believe that the attacks will not stop, especially since the armed factions are starting to greatly up their rhetoric,” he added. The situation is ultimately up to how Kadhimi manages the situation.

He predicted that the PM will face “major challenges, significantly since the armed factions have political arms inside parliament and can therefore, impede government work.”



Israel Strikes Syria After Projectiles Fired, Holds Sharaa Responsible 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Strikes Syria After Projectiles Fired, Holds Sharaa Responsible 

An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria, May 4, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel has carried out its first airstrikes in Syria in nearly a month, saying it hit weapons belonging to the government in retaliation for the firing of two projectiles towards Israel and holding interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa responsible. 

Damascus said Israeli strikes caused "heavy human and material losses", reiterating that Syria does not pose a threat to any regional party and stressing the need to end the presence of armed groups and establish state control in the south. 

Israel had not struck Syria since early May - a month marked by US President Donald Trump's meeting with Sharaa, the lifting of US sanctions, and direct Syrian-Israeli contacts to calm tensions, as reported by Reuters last week. 

Israel has bombed Syria frequently this year. Israel has also moved troops into areas of the southwest, where it has said it won't allow the new government's security forces to deploy. 

The projectiles Israel reported fired from Syria were the first since longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad was toppled. The Israeli military said the two projectiles fell in open areas. 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said he held the Syrian president "directly responsible for any threat and fire toward the State of Israel". 

A Syrian Foreign Ministry statement said the accuracy of the reports of shelling towards Israel had not yet been verified. 

"We believe that there are many parties that may seek to destabilize the region to achieve their own interests," the Syrian Foreign Ministry added, as reported by the state news agency. 

A Syrian official told Reuters such parties included "remnants of Assad-era militias linked to Iran, which have long been active in the Quneitra area" and have "a vested interest in provoking Israeli retaliation as a means of escalating tensions and undermining current stabilization efforts". 

Several Arab and Palestinian media outlets circulated a claim of responsibility from a little-known group named "Martyr Mohammed Deif Brigades," an apparent reference to Hamas' military leader who was killed in an Israeli strike in 2024. 

Reuters could not independently verify the statement. 

The Syrian state news agency and security sources reported Israeli strikes targeting sites in the Damascus countryside and Quneitra and Daraa provinces. 

Local residents contacted by Reuters said Israeli shelling targeted agricultural areas in the Wadi Yarmouk region. They described increased tensions in recent weeks, including reported Israeli incursions into villages, where residents have reportedly been barred from sowing their crops. 

An Israeli strike also hit a former Syrian army base near the city of Izraa, a Syrian source said. 

Israel has said its goals in Syria include protecting the Druze, a religious minority with followers in both countries. 

Israel, which has occupied the Syrian Golan Heights since the 1967 Middle East war, bombed Syria frequently during the last decade of Assad's rule, targeting the sway of his Iranian allies. 

The newly-appointed US envoy to Syria said last week he believed peace between Syria and Israel was achievable. 

Around the same time that Israel reported the projectiles from Syria, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile from Yemen. 

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said they targeted Israel's Jaffa with a ballistic missile. The group says it has been launching attacks against Israel in support of Palestinians during the Israeli war in Gaza.