Iraqi Militias Agree 'Conditional Ceasefire' to Halt US Attacks

Kataib Hezbollah supporters storm US supporters in Baghdad, Iraq | Photo: AFP
Kataib Hezbollah supporters storm US supporters in Baghdad, Iraq | Photo: AFP
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Iraqi Militias Agree 'Conditional Ceasefire' to Halt US Attacks

Kataib Hezbollah supporters storm US supporters in Baghdad, Iraq | Photo: AFP
Kataib Hezbollah supporters storm US supporters in Baghdad, Iraq | Photo: AFP

An array of Iran-backed Iraqi militia groups have agreed to suspend rocket attacks on US forces on condition that Iraq’s government presents a timetable for a withdrawal of American troops, one of the groups said on Sunday.

“The factions have presented a conditional ceasefire,” said Mohammed Mohi, spokesman for the Iran-backed Kataib Hezbollah group.

“It includes all factions of the (anti-US) resistance, including those who have been targeting US forces,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

Mohi said the Iraqi government must implement a parliamentary resolution in January that called for the withdrawal from Iraq of foreign troops.

The parliament’s decision came after a US drone strike at Baghdad airport killed Iranian military mastermind Qassem Soleimani and Iraq’s top Shiite paramilitary chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, raising fears of a full-scale Iran-US confrontation on Iraqi soil.

Mohi said there was no deadline for the government to implement the decision, but warned: “If America insists on staying and doesn’t respect the parliament’s decision then the factions will use all the weapons at their disposal”.

He said the firing of Katyusha rockets at US forces and diplomatic compounds had been merely “a message that you’re not welcome in the country” and that worse attacks could follow.

US officials blame Kataib Hezbollah for dozens of rocket attacks against US installations in Iraq.

Kataib Hezbollah denies carrying them out. Smaller and previously unknown militias have claimed some of the attacks. Iraqi security sources believe those groups are linked to Kataib Hezbollah and other larger Iran-aligned militias.



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.