Drone Attack Targets Moqtada Sadr
Chaos Grips Iraq Amid Rise in U.S. Meddling
NAJAF (Dispatches) -- A drone dropped a bomb on the home of anti-American Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr in the shrine city of Najaf early Saturday but he was not in the country, sources within his party said.
Al Sadr has backed rallies rocking Iraq, sending his supporters into the streets of the capital overnight to "protect protesters” after unidentified gunmen attacked a protest camp.
At least 17 demonstrators were killed and dozens others wounded when gunmen in several vehicles opened fire on a protest site in central Baghdad, medical sources and activists said.
As thousands of demonstrators rallied in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the gunmen seized a nearby parking garage that is used by activists.
During his weekly Friday sermon, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said violence and chaos will only hinder true reforms as demanded by ongoing anti-corruption and economic protesters in Iraq, calling on demonstrators to counter violent rioters.
Addressing worshipers in Karbala, Ayatollah Sistani said protesters should not allow rioters to infiltrate the rallies and target "security forces and destroy public and private property”.
Ayatollah Sistani also said that a new prime minister must be chosen "without any foreign interference” and partisan politics after the incumbent Adel Abdul-Mahdi tendered his resignation a week ago.
As he spoke, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on three leaders of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi,
an umbrella paramilitary group that has actively cooperated with the national army in sweeping counter-terrorism operations.
In a statement released on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions on Qais al-Khazali and his brother Laith, two leaders of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, as well as Hussein Falil Aziz al-Lami of Kata’ib Hezbollah.
The U.S. Treasury Department claimed that the resistance groups led by the three Iraqi figures had "opened fire on peaceful protests, killing dozens of innocent civilians”.
Hashd al-Sha’abi, a combination of some 40 groups of mostly Shia fighters as well as Sunnis and Christians, was formed shortly after Daesh emerged in Iraq in 2014.
The group played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks in the face of lightning advances by Takfiri terrorists.
In November 2016, the Iraqi parliament voted to integrate Hashd al-Sha’abi into the military in the face of U.S. efforts to sideline the group.
Iraqi lawmakers on Saturday hit out at the U.S. blacklisting of the anti-terrorism commanders.
The Hikma bloc of the Iraqi parliament, lead by top Iraqi cleric Ammar al-Hakim, issued a statement decrying the measure as an instance of "blatant meddling in Iraq’s affairs”.
"We regard these measures as a clear violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” the statement read.
Muhammad al-Rabiei, spokesperson for the al-Sadiqoun parliamentary bloc affiliated with Iraq’s Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, decried the measure as illegitimate and useless.
"Die of your anger, for we lead the resistance against the occupation, Takfiri terrorism, separatism and ambitions,” he said, adding that his groups stand "against the hegemonic plans of the U.S.”.
On Friday, an unknown drone hit the al-Hannanah neighborhood in which the residence of Sadr in the city of Najaf is located.
The strike came amid reports of U.S. forces and Israeli-operated drones having targeted Iraqi forces, specifically Hashd al-Shaabi, on numerous occasions.
On Friday, unknown assailants fired live ammunition from cars, bearing all the hallmarks of Daesh terrorists, killing more than a dozen in central Baghdad.
The attacks came after a report emerged claiming that the U.S. was allowing Daesh to roam freely under its eyes in Iraq’s western Anbar Province.
"The way in which American aircraft act in regard to Daesh positions in al-Anbar’s northern areas has raised many questions,” Iraq’s al-Maalomah news agency quoted an unnamed source in al-Anbar as saying.
The source stressed that the American forces were aware of terrorist movements and their negative effect on the security of the province.
"American planes fly over these regions for long durations without striking any Daesh cell positions,” he said.
The source added that the American behavior was "surprising”, specifically because the mission of U.S. forces deployed in Anbar’s Ayn al-Assad military base was to "strike Daesh sleeper cells”.
Al Sadr has backed rallies rocking Iraq, sending his supporters into the streets of the capital overnight to "protect protesters” after unidentified gunmen attacked a protest camp.
At least 17 demonstrators were killed and dozens others wounded when gunmen in several vehicles opened fire on a protest site in central Baghdad, medical sources and activists said.
As thousands of demonstrators rallied in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square, the gunmen seized a nearby parking garage that is used by activists.
During his weekly Friday sermon, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said violence and chaos will only hinder true reforms as demanded by ongoing anti-corruption and economic protesters in Iraq, calling on demonstrators to counter violent rioters.
Addressing worshipers in Karbala, Ayatollah Sistani said protesters should not allow rioters to infiltrate the rallies and target "security forces and destroy public and private property”.
Ayatollah Sistani also said that a new prime minister must be chosen "without any foreign interference” and partisan politics after the incumbent Adel Abdul-Mahdi tendered his resignation a week ago.
As he spoke, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on three leaders of Iraq’s Hashd al-Sha’abi,
an umbrella paramilitary group that has actively cooperated with the national army in sweeping counter-terrorism operations.
In a statement released on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions on Qais al-Khazali and his brother Laith, two leaders of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq group, as well as Hussein Falil Aziz al-Lami of Kata’ib Hezbollah.
The U.S. Treasury Department claimed that the resistance groups led by the three Iraqi figures had "opened fire on peaceful protests, killing dozens of innocent civilians”.
Hashd al-Sha’abi, a combination of some 40 groups of mostly Shia fighters as well as Sunnis and Christians, was formed shortly after Daesh emerged in Iraq in 2014.
The group played a major role in reinforcing the Iraqi army, which had suffered heavy setbacks in the face of lightning advances by Takfiri terrorists.
In November 2016, the Iraqi parliament voted to integrate Hashd al-Sha’abi into the military in the face of U.S. efforts to sideline the group.
Iraqi lawmakers on Saturday hit out at the U.S. blacklisting of the anti-terrorism commanders.
The Hikma bloc of the Iraqi parliament, lead by top Iraqi cleric Ammar al-Hakim, issued a statement decrying the measure as an instance of "blatant meddling in Iraq’s affairs”.
"We regard these measures as a clear violation of Iraq’s sovereignty,” the statement read.
Muhammad al-Rabiei, spokesperson for the al-Sadiqoun parliamentary bloc affiliated with Iraq’s Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, decried the measure as illegitimate and useless.
"Die of your anger, for we lead the resistance against the occupation, Takfiri terrorism, separatism and ambitions,” he said, adding that his groups stand "against the hegemonic plans of the U.S.”.
On Friday, an unknown drone hit the al-Hannanah neighborhood in which the residence of Sadr in the city of Najaf is located.
The strike came amid reports of U.S. forces and Israeli-operated drones having targeted Iraqi forces, specifically Hashd al-Shaabi, on numerous occasions.
On Friday, unknown assailants fired live ammunition from cars, bearing all the hallmarks of Daesh terrorists, killing more than a dozen in central Baghdad.
The attacks came after a report emerged claiming that the U.S. was allowing Daesh to roam freely under its eyes in Iraq’s western Anbar Province.
"The way in which American aircraft act in regard to Daesh positions in al-Anbar’s northern areas has raised many questions,” Iraq’s al-Maalomah news agency quoted an unnamed source in al-Anbar as saying.
The source stressed that the American forces were aware of terrorist movements and their negative effect on the security of the province.
"American planes fly over these regions for long durations without striking any Daesh cell positions,” he said.
The source added that the American behavior was "surprising”, specifically because the mission of U.S. forces deployed in Anbar’s Ayn al-Assad military base was to "strike Daesh sleeper cells”.