Asa’ib blames Saudi, UAE for deadly bombings in Iraqi capital

Iraq’s Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq movement, a subdivision of anti-terror Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU) or Hashd al-Sha’abi, has blamed Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for the deadly twin bombings in the capital Baghdad.

Speaking to Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen TV channel on Friday, Saad al-Saadi, a member of Asa’ib’s political bureau, said the fingerprints of the Al Saud and Al Nahyan regimes are evident in the attacks.

Additionally, Asa’ib spokesman Jawad Al-Talibawi took to Twitter to say that Saudi Arabia had once again mobilized its agents to shed the blood of the Iraqi nation after former US president Donald Trump’s criminal role came to an end in Iraq.

He warned that the Iraqi fighters will not remain indifferent in the face of the crimes committed by Riyadh.

The Baghdad bombings – the deadliest in nearly three years – killed at least 32 people and wounded 110 others in a crowded marketplace on Thursday.

The first attacker drew a crowd at the bustling market in Tayaran Square by claiming to feel sick, and then detonated his explosives belt. As more people then flocked to the scene to help the victims, a second bomber set off his explosives.

The US-sponsored Daesh terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

‘Bombings an attempt to keep US forces in Iraq’

Kata’ib Hezbollah group, another PMU faction, said Friday the bombings were meant to implement the US plot in the region and keep its forces in Iraq under security pretexts.

Saudi Arabia wants to bring war into Iraq in line with Trump’s self-proclaimed “deal of the century”, pushing Baghdad towards normalization with Israel, Kata’ib spokesman Muhammad Mohi stressed.

He further noted that some Takfiri groups are being trained at American bases inside Syria as well as the Iraqi borders with Syria and Jordan.

Maliki calls for probe into foreign involvement 

Meanwhile, Nouri al-Maliki, former Iraqi prime minister and current head of State of Law coalition, called for a comprehensive investigation into the terrorist attacks to determine whether they was supported from or planned abroad.

In a post on his Twitter account, he called for the severe punishment of the military and security officials who will be found guilty of negligence.

Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.

The PMU played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks against the Takfiri elements.

Iraq declared victory over Daesh in December 2017 after a three-year counter-terrorism military campaign, which also had the support of neighboring Iran.

The terror outfit’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq, attempting to regroup and unleash a new era of violence.

Daesh has intensified its terrorist attacks in Iraq since January 2020, when the United States assassinated top Iranian anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani and PMU’s deputy commander, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, near Baghdad International Airport.

Just two days after the cowardly assassination operation, Iraqi lawmakers unanimously passed a bill mandating the expulsion of all foreign troops, including the Americans.

However, recent reports say the US military has transferred Daesh prisoners to the Iraqi-Syrian border in order to provide a pretext for its continued presence in the region.

American forces used choppers to relocate the Daesh inmates from prisons in Hasakah province in northeast Syria to the Iraqi border, al-Mayadeen reported last week.

The Trump administration had stepped up its efforts to weaken the anti-terror PMU and blacklisted the group’s chairman Falih al-Fayyadh in early January.