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New Delhi: Iran-backed Iraqi armed group announced the suspension of all its military operations against US troops in the region after a drone strike in Jordan killed three US soldiers on Sunday.
Kataib Hezbollah took the decision to prevent “embarrassment” to the Iraqi government, it said in a statement, reported news agency Reuters.
“As we announce the suspension of military and security operations against the occupation forces – in order to prevent embarrassment of the Iraqi government – we will continue to defend our people in Gaza in other ways,” Kataib Hezbollah Secretary-General Abu Hussein al-Hamidawi said in a statement.
Three US troops were killed in a drone attack near the Jordan-Syria border on Sunday that the Pentagon said bore the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah, though a final assessment had not yet been made.
Founded in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Kataib Hezbollah is one of the elite Iraqi armed factions closest to Iran, reported Reuters.
It is the most powerful armed faction in the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of hardline Shi’ite armed groups that have claimed more than 150 attacks on US forces since the Gaza war began in early October.
Iraq’s foreign affairs adviser Farhad Alaadin said that Kataib Hezbollah’s decision followed days of intensive efforts by Iraq’s prime minister to prevent a new escalation after the Jordan attack, as per the Reuters report.
“Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani has been hard at work in the past few days, engaging with all relevant parties inside and outside Iraq,” Alaadin said in an interview. “All sides need to support the efforts of the Prime Minister to prevent any possible escalation,” he added.
In its statement, Kataib Hezbollah also said there were disagreements with allies over its attacks, singling out Iran.
It said counterparts in the Axis of Resistance “often object to the pressure and escalation against the American occupation forces in Iraq and Syria,” the statement said, the Reuters report added.
Iran has denied involvement in attacks by Iraqi groups.
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