The Iranian-backed militias are escalating attacks in Iraq. In recent days, a number of militias have carried out drone attacks on the US in Iraq. Iran is also targeting Kurdish opposition groups in the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. Recent footage showed that Iranian militias have flown a drone into a US site in Baghdad and also apparently attacked the radar atop a US diplomatic facility. The radar was likely used with a gun system that is used to protect against drones and mortar fire.
In the Kurdistan Region, Rudaw media is reporting continual drone attacks over the last few days. “The Kurdistan Region was targeted with seven explosive-laden drones early Saturday as Iran and its proxy forces in Iraq continue to target the US consulate in Erbil and other military and civilian sites in the Region,”
Also, an informed source told Rudaw that at 10 a.m., on Saturday, six drones were intercepted in the skies over Erbil. Drones were shot down by a US defense system, and at around the same time, another one-way attack drone targeted Sulaimani city, the report said.
It is believed that at least 300 drones and missiles have been launched at the Kurdistan Region since the US and Israel began attacks on Iran on February 28.
Iranian-backed militia Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba says 'surprises' ahead
Iranian Tasnim media, which is considered close to the IRGC, quoted the Iranian-backed militia Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba in Iraq, as saying it warns of “surprises” ahead. Tasnim noted that Firas al-Yasir, a member of the political council of the Nujaba Movement, said: “The axis of resistance is busy consolidating its positions in this war. The targeting and destruction of American bases in the Persian Gulf countries by the Iraqi Islamic Resistance is evidence of the precision in choosing targets.’”
Nujaba is one of the militias in the Popular Mobilization Forces in Iraq. The PMF is part of the government’s paramilitary security forces. It also has dozens of militias, many of them considered terrorist groups by the US. Nujaba, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, Kataib Hezbollah, and Kataib Imam Ali are among the militias. Badr, which is also a large militia, is part of the PMF but is not sanctioned as a terrorist group by the US. The militias have also created new groups that they say are part of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
Ashab al-Kahf is one of the new groups targeting the US. This is clearly a group that is primarily just a cut-out used so that other, larger militias don’t need to take credit. Many of the militias have members in parliament, and they try to double as political and terrorist groups, similar to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Another militia that is used as a kind of cut-out is Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya. It put out a recent statement after the death of Kata’ib Hezbollah member Abu Ali al-Amiri.
The Islamic Resistance group, which is basically a collection of the same militias in the PMF, said it carried out 27 attacks on Saturday. One attack also targeted an oil refinery in the Kurdistan Region. Another attack targeted the Iranian Kurdish PAK and PDKI opposition groups. One of those attacks involved missiles and was likely carried out from Iran.
The militias also targeted the UAE consulate in Erbil for the second time on Saturday. They had targeted it last week as well. This is part of an increased pattern of attacks on diplomatic sites. The UAE and Kurdistan Region condemned the attack in which several security personnel were wounded.
Meanwhile, Iran is also attacking Kurdish areas in Iran. “On the 15th day of the war, US and Israeli forces announced they had bombed several targets in Iran and Kurdish areas in western Iran (Rojhelat). Local administrative officials in the city of Ilam said a residential unit was struck, killing six members of one family. In Kermanshah province, the death of a mother and her child was also reported,” Rudaw noted.
The number of attacks appears to be increasing and is also hard to keep track of. In only the last 48 hours, for instance, some attacks continued throughout Saturday night into Sunday morning, March 15. Four civilians were injured in Erbil when drone debris fell on a home. Two loud explosions were heard in Erbil. “One of the drones fell onto the roof of a house in the Karezan neighborhood after being intercepted, sparking a fire and injuring four civilians,” Rudaw noted.
The Kurdistan Region has condemned the attacks and held calls with Baghdad. However, Baghdad has not restrained the militias. Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to the prime minister of the Kurdistan Region, wrote on X/Twitter overnight, “The criminals paid and armed by the Iraqi government targeted a refinery in Erbil tonight. These militias are part of the government and parliament.”
He went on to note that “we always share the names of the perpetrators with the government in Baghdad. After hundreds of attacks over several years, there have been zero convictions. When a handful of symbolic arrests were made, the suspects were released on bail as a ruse to flee the country. All we hear are promises of investigations.”