Hashd Al-Shaabi Warns of Crushing Response to US Threats against Iraqi Commanders

The sanctions targeted Ubayd Al-Zaydi, Yusuf Hashim, Adnan Hussein Kawtharani, and Muhammad Abd-Al-Hadi Farhat, who were said to have provided financial, material and technological support to Hezbollah in Iraq.

Ali al-Hosseini, one of Hashd al-Shaabi leaders in Iraq, blasted the sanctions, downplaying the embargos against al-Zaydi, who is the secretary-general of Kata’b Imam Ali Brigades.

He underlined that al-Zaidy has participated in many operations against the ISIL, saying that Hashd al-Shaabi will not keep mum about any attacks against him or any other commanders of the resistance front.

“We will show a crushing response to any aggression against al-Zaidy or danger against his life,” al-Hosseini said.

Iraqi security sources disclosed in 2016 that Washington was exerting pressure on the Baghdad government to end Hashd al-Shaabi’s partnership in war against ISIL and dissolve the militia army that has the lion share in the war on terrorism in the country.

“The US government has conveyed the message to the Iraqi government through its diplomats that there is no need to Hashd al-Shaabi forces and their role should come to an end,” a senior Iraqi source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told FNA at the time.