The US believes the terror attack that killed three of its troops on the Jordan-Syria border bears the imprint of Kataib Hezbollah, an Iraqi militia backed by Iran. The youngest of three casualties was just 23. As pressure grows on President Biden in an election year, his administration says it does not want a war with Iran but will “hold all those responsible to account at a time and a manner of our choosing”. Here is what we know about the group.
It was founded post the 2003-US led invasion of Iraq. A powerful Shia armed group, known for attacking US troops in Iraq during the 2000s, it has claimed to have carried out over 150 attacks on US forces since the war in Gaza began.
According to former US diplomat Ali Khedery, KH is responsible for “some of the most lethal attacks against US and coalition forces throughout the [US-led war in Iraq].”
The state department terms the group as “a radical Shi’a Islamist group with an anti-Western establishment and jihadist ideology”.
In 2009, the US designated it as a terrorist organisation. It was led by Iraqi-Iranian citizen Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis who was killed in 2020 by a US drone near Baghdad airport. There is no clarity on who heads the group since.
The group is backed by Iran and played an important role in the Syrian war where its cadre fought alongside other Shia militias in ousting ISIS. It also helped liberate Iraqi cities and towns.
Currently, the group plays a prominent role alongside Lebanese Hezbollah, in maintaining control over the al-Qaim border crossing between Iraq and Syria.
Western intelligence officials believe that the group has about 10,000 fighters. It’s said to finance its activities partly through illegal cross-border smuggling operations, including drugs. It also gets funding, training and weapons from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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