Baghdad: The U.S. believes the attack that killed three U.S. troops on the Jordanian-Syrian border has the "footprints" of Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah, the Pentagon said.
Who is the Kataib Hezbollah?
It does not openly confirm or deny involvement.
The U.S. designated it as a terrorist organization in 2009.
- It was led by dual Iraqi-Iranian citizen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis until he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2020 along with Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani at Baghdad's international airport.
- The group has a translational Shi'ite ideology that views the borders between Iraq, Syria and Lebanon as Western constructs. It views U.S. troops in Iraq as foreign occupiers and has called for their forceful expulsion.
- It fought alongside other Shi'ite militias against mostly Sunni rebels during Syria's civil war and has continued to operate in Syria since.
- A shadowy group with no announced leadership structure, Kataib Hezbollah has thousands of fighters and an arsenal of drones, rockets and short-range ballistic missiles, Iraqi officials and members of the group say.
- The U.S. has struck Kataib Hezbollah positions, bases and training and logistics hubs several times over the years.
On Jan. 24, it struck several targets in Kataib Hezbollah's stronghold in Jurf Al-Sakhar some 50 kilometres south of Baghdad in retaliation for drone and missile attacks.
It forms several battalions in Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a grouping of armed factions originally set up to fight Islamic State in 2014 that was subsequently recognised as an official security force.
Fighters receive state salaries and Kataib Hezbollah members, including some designated terrorists by the U.S., hold senior positions in the PMF.
While it is technically under the command of Iraq's prime minister as part of the PMF, the group often operates outside the chain of command and has defied and challenged government statements calling for an end to attacks on U.S. forces.
Though it does not publicly confirm or deny links, the group is widely seen to have fielded a political party for the first time in 2021 elections, winning several seats in parliament.
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