Live updates: Follow the latest news on US-Iran war
As the Iran war wreaks havoc across the region, a web of Tehran-linked militias in Iraq – some well known, some obscure – are escalating attacks on US interests.
Shortly after the US and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28, air strikes hit a base for these militias south of Baghdad, killing and wounding fighters. That prompted the militias, who had publicly stayed out of the 12-day war last June, to join the fight in solidarity with Iran.
During last June's conflict there were a handful of unclaimed drone attacks likely linked to the militias. This time, they have claimed responsibility for attacks on the US embassy in Baghdad; a logistics hub at Baghdad International Airport that is used by US military personnel; Harir Air Base, which houses American troops; and the US consulate in Erbil, capital of the Kurdistan Region.
The militias have also launched attacks on US troops in Jordan,Kuwait and other countries, prompting the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan to condemn these attacks on Wednesday and urge Iraq to “take the necessary measures” to halt them.
Many of the militias have a presence in the Popular Mobilisation Forces, a state-sponsored umbrella organisation of mostly Shiite paramilitary groups known locally as Al Hashid Al Shaabi.
The PMF is formally under Iraqi control. However, many factions maintain parallel chains of command and are widely believed to answer to Tehran.
The groups are part of Iran's so-called Axis of Resistance across the Middle East. Their tactics rely heavily on cheap, locally made explosive drones, as well as short-range rockets, used mainly for attacking targets inside Iraq. They also use missiles for longer-range targets.
The involvement of these groups in the Middle East war is reshaping Iraq’s security landscape and complicating efforts to contain the regional conflict.
For many Iraqis, the fear is familiar: their country once again being pulled into a conflict not of its making, with militia attacks turning Iraq into a battleground between Washington and Tehran.
“The Iraqi militias have chosen, likely in co-ordination with Iranian advisers, to join this conflict in a much stronger and more overt capacity than we saw in the 12-day war,” said Bridget Toomey, an expert on Iranian proxies at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies.
They did so for several reasons including “Iran’s strategy of expanding the war, eagerness on the part of elements of Iran’s proxy network in Iraq to defend their patron, and in response to attacks against them”, she added.
Their attacks outside Iraq are likely to be a bid to “signal strength and competence and to portray themselves as regional players, not just players in Iraq”, Ms Toomey told The National.
Much of the power lies with a few core militias who fought US troops in Iraq after 2003 invasion and then in Syria's civil alongside Bashar Al Assad’s army. These are Kataib Hezbollah, Al Nujaba Movement, Kataib Sayied Al Shuhda, and Asaib Ahl Al Haq.
Attacks are also claimed by smaller, shadowy groups. Some of these are “front groups” that “operate as a banner under which the major factions or segments of them conduct attacks,” Ms Toomey said.
Who are these groups?
Kataib Hezbollah
The most powerful armed faction, historically tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, specifically its Quds Force.
Its former leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis was killed in the US strike in Baghdad in 2020 that assassinated Iranian commander Qassem Suleimani.
The current secretary general is Ahmad Mohsen Faraj Al Hamidawi. The group and its senior leaders are listed by the US as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, accused of attacking US forces and destabilising Iraq.
Kataib Hezbollah occupies key positions in the PMF, including the post of chief of staff, held by Abdul Aziz Al Mohammadawi, known as Abu Fadak.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba
The group, also known as the Al Nujaba Movement, is led by Akram Al Kaabi, who rose through the ranks of various Shiite armed groups after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq.
He has led calls for attacks on US forces, said Shiite groups should “liberate Iraq” from the Americans and supported Hamas in its war in Gaza. He has often broken off from established groups to work with splinter organisations and has never wavered in his threats to the US.
His career as a violent militant who joined radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr’s movement after the US invasion mirrors Iraq’s slide into Iran’s sphere. Before 2003, he was an aide to Mr Al Sadr’s father Mohammed, a cleric assassinated by Saddam Hussein's regime.
In 2013, Al Kaaba formed the Ammar Ben Yassir Brigade to join the fight in Syria alongside Bashar Al Assad’s army. That brigade then became the Al Nujaba Movement.
Kataib Sayyid Al Shuhada
A US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organisation, the group has a strong ideological loyalty to Iran’s leadership.
Its leader Abu Ala Al Walai was also added to the US government's Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list in 2023.
Asaib Ahl Al Haq
After rejecting a 2008 ceasefire between Moqtada Al Sadr’s Mahdi Army and Iraqi and US forces, Asaib Al Al Haq became one of Iran’s most loyal forces in Iraq.
The group, which is led by Qais Al Khazali, has a strong presence in Iraqi politics. Its failure to take part in past attacks against US troops in Iraq and Syria and Israel during the Gaza war has drawn criticism from other groups.
It has not yet claimed any attacks in the current war, but published photos of the US-sanctioned Al Khazali holding a rifle after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hinted at joining the fight.
Badr Organisation
Formed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iraq-Iran war of the 1980s, the group fought alongside Iranian troops against the Iraqi army.
Led by powerful politician Hadi Al Amiri, it is less directly involved in attacks but provides a key strategic backbone. It has a significant presence in the Iraqi government and parliament.
Two other groups with an opaque leadership are believed to be used as a facade to claim attacks, especially those outside Iraq:
Saraya Awliya Al Dam
Considered one of the most active such groups, it has claimed attacks against US interests in Iraq, as well as Iranian Kurdish separatist groups that oppose the Tehran regime.
Since the outbreak of the conflict, it has carried out 11 attacks in Syria, 11 in Saudi Arabia, 19 in Jordan, and eight in Kuwait, it said on Tuesday.
In response to Wednesday’s statement by several Gulf states and Jordan, the group’s military spokesman Abu Mahdi Al Jaafri said it “only targets the US presence” in these countries.
Any US plans to deploy more troops in the region “will prompt us to intensify the operations against the American presence in any country”, he added.
Ashab Al Kahf
It has also claimed mainly drone attacks against US troops in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, along with others inside Iraq.
There are also smaller and lesser-known factions that are increasingly active, such as Kataib Sarkhat Al Quds, Harakat Ansar Allah Al Awfiya, and Al Thawriyyun.
