Iraqi militant group Kataib Hezbollah has hinted it could attack Jordan, warning “patience is starting to run out” over the kingdom's backing for the US.
Abu Mujahid Al Assaf, a security official from the group, claimed “the bulk” of US and Israeli reconnaissance missions are launched from Jordan. The kingdom hosts about 4,000 US soldiers, who use military sites including the Muwaffaq Salti Airbase.
Like other US allies in the region, Jordan came under attack from Iranian missiles and drones at the height of the regional war. Some of Iraq's array of pro-Iran armed groups also claimed attacks on Jordan and Gulf countries.
“The government of Amman must realise that what happened in the recent war was just a beginning, so patience is starting to run out,” Mr Al Assaf said in an online post.
He warned that Iraqi militants will retaliate if the US and Israel mount new attacks on their leaders. Kataib Hezbollah is considered the most powerful of Iraq's armed factions, with long-standing ties to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mr Al Assaf also denied a connection between Kataib Hezbollah and an Iraqi man charged in the US with planning dozens of attacks in Europe and North America. Prosecutors in New York believe Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al Saadi is a senior member of the group.
The Kataib Hezbollah official denied that, but said the suspect “will be returned to his homeland with his head held high, for he is a lover and supporter of the resistance”.
Kataib Hezbollah and its senior leaders are listed by the US as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, accused of attacking US forces and destabilising Iraq. The group's current secretary general is Ahmad Mohsen Faraj Al Hamidawi.
Previous leader Abu Mahdi Al Muhandis died in the US strike in Baghdad in 2020 that killed the Iranian commander Qassem Suleimani.
Iraq's position as a base for both US troops and pro-Iran militants has left it caught in the crossfire of the regional war. Claims have emerged that Israel also used the Iraqi desert as a staging post for attacks on Iraq. The Iraqi government has disputed that, saying it had found no evidence of a reputed secret base.
