Iraqi group after Daesh attacks: Revenge to target source of fire

Abdul-Ali al-Asgari, Katai’b’s security chief, made the remarks in a tweet on Sunday.

“The perpetrators of the massacres in Iraq are the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel,” he wrote, adding, “Revenge should be exacted by retaliating against the source and fountainhead of fire, not its branches.”

The remarks came after a twin bombing by the Takfiri terrorist group against a busy square in Baghdad claimed at least 32 people and wounded 110 others on Thursday.

A Daesh ambush also killed 11 fighters of the Hashd al-Sha’abi or Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) – a prominent Iraqi anti-terror force, which includes Kata’ib Hezbollah – in the north-central Iraqi province of Salahuddin on Saturday.

Soon after the attacks, Kata’ib Hezbollah released a statement, denouncing the trilateral alliance for the attacks.

Daesh that subscribes to Saudi Arabia’s dominant radical ideology of Wahhabism and has been widely reported to be in receipt of American logistical support, launched its deadly and destructive campaign in Iraq in 2014.

It was defeated after three years of uphill battle by Iraq and its allies, including Iran, which lent it military advisory support, and volunteers from the PMU, whose anti-terror contribution prompted Baghdad to endorse them as an official Iraqi defense force.

The recent terrorist attacks have given rise to fears of underway attempts to reinvigorate the terrorist group inside the Arab country.

Iraqi security expert Sabah al-Akili told the country’s al-Maloumeh news website that by the end of 2020, American forces had transferred around 4,000 Daesh terrorists from neighboring Syria soil to Iraq.

He said the terrorists had been brought over in US-flagged vehicles, which Iraq is barred from scrutinizing.

The American presence hampered Iraq’s efforts to destroy the terror outfit, said al-Akili.

In his tweet, the Kata’ib official also praised an aerial revenge attack against Saudi capital Riyadh that came following the Baghdad massacre.

“We congratulate the attack on [Mohammed] bin Salman’s den,” he said, referring to Saudi Arabia’s crown prince.