The Iranian-backed militia Kataib Hezbollah has threatened the US and the Kurdistan Region, as US-Iran tensions continue to grow.
The militia's threat came as the US Embassy in Israel said it had authorized the departure of non-essential personnel on Friday.
According to reports from Rudaw media in Iraq and Israel’s Maariv, Kataib Hezbollah threatened to inflict losses on the US if escalation occurs. “A Bloomberg report reveals that a dedicated American drone unit is prepared for a possible attack on Iran,” Maariv also noted.
Kataib Hezbollah has called on its members to prepare for a “war of attrition,” Rudaw also said. It has also warned the Kurdistan Region not to cooperate with “hostile foreign forces.”
The report said that the militia noted that “amid American threats and the military buildup that portends a dangerous escalation in the region, we emphasize the necessity for all Mujahideen [fighters] to prepare to wage a war of attrition that may be long-term, exceeding the estimates of the US administration.”
Kataib Hezbollah went on to say that “should evil America proceed to ignite the fuse of war in the region, it will find itself facing massive losses that cannot be contained or recovered.” The group also warned the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq “against the consequences of colluding with hostile foreign forces, as this will impose additional burdens upon it that may threaten its security and future.”
It was not clear if the "hostile foreign forces" referred to Kurdish groups who oppose Iran, to the US, or to both.
Kurdish groups oppose Iranian regime
Kurdish Iranian groups have operated from the Kurdistan region in the past, with five of the groups recently uniting in a statement against the Iranian regime. Iran has also attacked the Kurdistan Region of Iraq in the past, targeting Kurdish groups and claiming to target Israeli-linked individuals in Erbil.
“Iran-backed groups, including Kataib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba, have increasingly portrayed the Kurdistan Region’s Peshmerga forces as US proxies that undermine Iraqi sovereignty and facilitate a Western military presence. The Peshmerga are an officially recognized regional security force and gained international recognition in 2014 for their frontline role against the Islamic State after the collapse of the Iraqi army,” Rudaw stated.
Kataib Hezbollah is one of the most important of the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq, widely considered to be directly linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In 2020 the US killed IRGC Quds Force leader Qasem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were riding in the same car near Baghdad International Airport.